Trial of the Wolf
by actionbastard
Summary: 3 years after the second movie. Syaoran, Sakura and co. must travel through different dimensions in order to defeat an ancient demon
1. Prologue

Summary: A powerful enemy once sealed away by ancient heroes has escaped from his prison. Now it is up to Syaoran, Sakura and co. to travel through different dimensions to fix the seals and once again seal away the evil demon lord.

Setting: This story is set 3 years after the second movie. Everyone in this story is around 15 years old.

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura

Prologue

Trial of the Wolf

'Where am I?'

Sakura stood on the spot, looking around in all directions. There was nothing but darkness.

'Is this a dream?' she thought to herself.

There was a sudden flash of light that brightened the whole area. Sakura was now surrounded by various ghostly images of towns, cities and forests.

'What is all of this?' she was becoming confused.

Then, all of a sudden, she heard a voice. She looked around, but saw no one.

"W-who's there?" she asked with a quiver in her voice

She heard it again, but this time it was clearer. At that point she realised that the voice was inside her mind.

'Ancient city, war torn country, haunted forest, snowy mountains, desert canyons…'

Those words were being repeating over and over. Sakura had noticed that the voice was describing the images…

There was another sudden flash of light.

'What's happening now?' she wondered as the images began to fade away.

Once again, there was darkness. But this time, she was not alone. Standing a few feet away from her was a young boy.

"Syaoran?" she asked, surprised.

He didn't seem to notice her. He continued to stand on the spot, staring up into the air.

Sakura then began to run forward.

"Syaoran!" she called out, but he still didn't notice her.

After another bright flash, she found herself standing on a Cliffside above the clouds. For a moment she was shocked, but then she decided to look around. The first thing she noticed was that Syaoran was now standing on a Cliffside opposite her.

"SYAORAN!" she screamed even louder, hoping he would hear her this time.

Once again, he didn't notice her. He seemed to be looking up towards the sky. She then looked up to find out what he was looking at.

'What is that?' she wondered.

Something was descending down at an incredible speed. It looked like…a shooting star?

But there was something about it that wasn't right. It was heading straight for Syaoran and as it got closer, it was forming into a shape of a man. A giant man with wings and a huge sword.

She quickly turned her gaze back to Syaoran who was standing with his sword in a defensive position. In a matter of seconds, it was going to collide with him.

No matter how loud she screamed, he still didn't notice her. She then watched as the giant winged man flew into the mountain where Syaoran stood. There was a final bright flash of light as the mountain exploded.

"SYAORAN!"

_Sakura…Sakura wake up!_

Another voice was calling to her.

Sakura!

Sakura woke up to see Kero hovering above her. She shot up from the bed with an expression of fear.

"Sakura are you ok?" Kero asked with concern.

"I think so…" she replied with a slightly shaky voice.

"You don't look it. You were crying out the kid's name in your sleep, not that you haven't done that before, but this time you seemed to be scared. What's wrong? Did something bad happen in your dream?" He was hoping to get a few answers out of her but she seemed to be really confused.

"I-I can't remember…" she groaned, placing her hand on her head.

Her face suddenly filled with an expression of panic, then she suddenly started to frantically search her bed, throwing the sheets up in the air and knocking Kero backwards across the room.

"Hey, hey! What's the idea?" he cried as he hit the wall.

"Ah! There!" Sakura sighed in relief when she found her Syaoran bear by her pillow. She grabbed it and hugged it closely.

"If you are going to do something like that again, be sure to warn me!" Kero grunted in annoyance.

Sakura's head shot up as she suddenly remembered something.

"Oh! That's right!" she cried as she leaped off the bed and ran for the calendar on her desk. One of the days on the calendar was highlighted with various coloured stars and hearts.

"Syaoran is moving to Tomoeda today!" She cheered happily and began to dance around the room.

"Gee, it's going to be wonderful having the kid living around here" Kero said sarcastically.

"Kero!" Sakura stopped and shot him an annoyed glance.

Then there was a sudden knock at the door, and a voice called to her

"Hey kaijuu, breakfast's ready"

"Onii-chan, I am NOT a kaijuu!" she yelled back in anger.

Elsewhere 

A man dressed in a black, ninja-like uniform is walking through the narrow, dimly lit corridors of an ancient castle. After wandering for maybe 15 minutes he finally reached two large stone doors with images of dragons and demons etched in them, pictures of monsters engaged in combat. He stepped forward and placed his hands on the doors, which began to slowly open allowing him to step through. He had reached his destination: the Great Hall.

It was like jumping into another world. The castle was dark, damp and small but the Great Hall was bright, dry and large. On both sides of the hall where a row of marble pillars, all with stone statues mounted halfway up them. Apart from these, the only other thing that resided in the hall was a large throne that sat in the centre.

Without stopping to look around the ninja marched up to the throne, halted a few feet away from it, then slowly dropped to one knee and bowed.

"My Lord…" he spoke with his head looking down at the ground. An elderly man sat on the throne, eyes closed and legs crossed while meditating.

After a few seconds the elderly man slowly opened his eyes and looked down upon the ninja.

"What is it?" the old man replied, rather slowly as if he was half asleep.

"My men are ready. Would you like us to leave now?" he asked, without raising his head. The old man was silent for a few seconds, and then he closed his eyes again.

"Take Ginryu with you. He will handle the Li clan heir." He replied.

"Yes, my Lord." Slowly the ninja rose from the ground and marched back out of the hall.

'My empire will once again rule over all…' the elderly man thought, as he fell back into his meditation.


	2. Darkness

Disclaimer: i do not own Cardcaptor Sakura

Chapter 1

Dark Day

**Hong Kong**

It was a beautiful early morning in Hong Kong, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. People travelled to work with bright smiles on their faces and children skipped merrily to school. All was calm and peaceful.

Well, except for someone in the Li residence…

"WHERE IS IT!"

Syaoran ran around his room, frantically searching for a certain item that a special someone gave to him.

"IT WAS RIGHT HERE, WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO IT?" he cried as he dived to the floor, searching under the bed.

"Lost something?" a voice from a young girl filled the room.

Syaoran pulled his head out from under the bed and looked up.

"Meilin! I've lost it! I can't find it anywhere!" he had an expression of panic written on his face.

"What, you mean this?" she giggled as she showed him a small handmade bear with a pink ribbon tied to it. It was his Sakura bear.

"YES, THAT'S IT!" He sprung up off the floor and rushed to his cousin. He quickly but carefully took it from her.

"It was downstairs, by the suitcases, where you left it" she continued to giggle.

"Thanks, Meilin" he walked away and carefully placed the bear in the bag that lay on his bed.

"This is amazing. You're moving to Japan" she exclaimed, looking around his room.

"Yeah…" he smiled as he picked up his bag and moved to the door.

"Slow down there" she said, moving in Syaoran's way as he tried to leave the room.

"The plane leaves this afternoon so calm down. And before you go, the Elders need to have a word with you" she took his bag off of him.

"About what?" he questioned as she headed off with his things.

"I don't know… it could be about your final trial to become the clan leader. I'm sure you'll find out when you get there" she walked off leaving him standing in his doorway.

He turned to take one last look at his room, and then headed off downstairs. While walking towards the front door, he heard his sisters cooing and cheering in one of the far off rooms. He then blushed cherry red.

'Their watching one of Daidouji's tapes again' he thought to himself. He then quickly left the house and headed off to the training grounds where the Elders awaited him.

A few minutes after Syaoran had left, his mother Yelan had wandered out from her room. Walking down the large hallway she stopped to look out the window.

'What a beautiful morning…' she smiled, admiring the Li garden.

After a few moments, she headed downstairs. When she reached the main hall she noticed the suitcases by the door.

'Ah, yes that's right. Syaoran is leaving for Japan, to be with Sakura…' her thoughts were cut off when she heard loud squeals of excitement from the living room.

She thought that the noise must be coming from her daughters, so she went to see what they were up to.

Walking into the living room, she saw that the four girls, Fudie Xuehua Huanglian and Feimei, plus Meilin, were all watching a 'Syaoran and Sakura' tape that Tomoyo Daidouji had sent them. The girls were unaware that Yelan had walked over and sat down to watch the tape. After a particular scene between Sakura and Syaoran, Yelan thought to herself

'It's wonderful to see Syaoran so happy,' she smiled 'He hasn't really smiled like that since before his father…'

"Oh! Good morning mother!" The girls turned in surprise and happiness as they just noticed her presence.

"Good morning" she smiled back at them all. She then asked, "Where is Syaoran?"

Without taking her eyes off the screen, Meilin answered

"He's just gone to see the Elders"

"Okay…"

But then, she began to feel something strange. She got up off the sofa and walked over to the window. After staring out of the window for a few seconds, she froze with a frightened expression on her face.

"Mother? Are you alright?" Feimei asked.

Yelan turned to Wei, who had just entered the room.

"We have to get to the training grounds, NOW!" she cried, worryingly.

---------------------------

'Nearly there' Syaoran thought to himself as he wandered up the stone path. Walking all the way to the training grounds was always quite a task, but it was often nice when you got to hear the birds singing and see the woodland creatures jumping around as you walked by. Thinking about those things, he suddenly began to wonder

'Where _are_ all the birds and woodland creatures?' he looked around seeing no creatures and hearing no birds. For some strange reason, the forest seemed pretty dead.

'It's probably nothing' he thought continuing his trek.

Then, he halted.

"What…"

Ahead of him was the entrance to the training grounds, all smashed and broken. The heavy wooden doors twisted off the hinges and punched full of holes. The stone archway cracked and the shrine lanterns knocked over.

Despite the fact it was a sunny day, a cold wind began to blow. The clouds were turning black and rain started to slowly fall. As the first few raindrops hit his head, he looked to the sky and narrowed his eyes. He could sense something…bad.

"Dark magic is the cause of this" he growled, returning his gaze to the destroyed entrance.

Cautiously, Syaoran moved forward carefully stepping over the remains of the doors while glancing around to find the cause of this mess. The first thing he saw made him freeze on the spot.

There were bodies littering the floor. Many of them were students who often trained here, some were the teachers who passed their wisdom and abilities to others, but the other set of bodies that lay among them were none that he had seen before. They wore black, ninja like suits. They must be the cause of this.

After standing completely frozen for a few seconds, he managed to snap himself out of the trance.

'I must be careful, there may be more out there' he thought to himself. Arming himself with his sword, he continued moving through the grounds.

'The magic is getting stronger' he mentally noted. He tried to slow himself down to reduce the noise he was making as he moved through the thick mud caused by the heavy rain, but the second he heard shouting and the sound of fighting up ahead at the main temple he broke into a sprint.

After passing the next building he found the source of the noise. Looking around, he saw the bodies of the Elders lying dead on the ground. Except for one. He was fighting a large man in dark armour, who was covered in blood. It wasn't his blood though…

"AWAY WITH YOU, DEMON!" the Elder shouted, lunging forward with his sword.

The man in dark armour had a large grin on his face. In the second that the Elder lunged forward, the man in dark armour had cut him down.

As the rain continued to pour, Syaoran stood on the spot watching. The man turned to see Syaoran standing there with his sword. Another large grin had painted his face. His wet hair had covered his eyes, but he could still see the mixed expression of pain, fear and anger in him.

"You must be the Li clan heir. This should be good…I hope you prove more entertaining than these were" his voice was deep, and it sounded thirsty. Thirsty for more blood.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" Syaoran questioned while throwing a cold glare at the man.

"My name is Ginryu. And I have come to kill you, Li clan heir."

Syaoran's anger really began to flare as he watched the man use an Elder's headscarf to wipe the blood of his sword. The man then began to walk in his direction.

"GOD OF THUNDER, ANSWER MY CALL!" Syaoran sent a huge bolt of lightning towards the man, but he continued moving forward, absorbing the electricity with his sword.

'This isn't working…' Syaoran thought, angrily.

Syaoran stopped his attack and was shocked to see the man laugh.

"HAHAHAHA…Thank you, very much!" He raised his sword and unleashed the electricity it had charged up back at Syaoran.

"GGGRRRRAAAGGGHHHH" Syaoran cried in pain as he was sent flying, landing on his back. He had dropped his sword, and was know virtually paralysed because of the electricity. His head was spinning and his vision was blurry. He just about managed to raise his head to see the man standing above him.

"THAT WAS IT!" he looked down at the defeated boy with an expression of disappointment. He then sighed.

"He was right, this boy doesn't deserve to become the clan leader…" he growled.

"W-what are y-you talking about…?" Syaoran stuttered in confusion as the pain continued to immobilize him.

The man turned his dark eyes back to Syaoran.

"It's nothing you will have to worry about" he smirked.

He then drove his sword straight through Syaoran's chest. Syaoran began to cough and choke as the cold steel passed through him. Then, after a few seconds, he slipped away into darkness.

"Farewell" he grinned, removing his sword from Syaoran's body.

"Sir!" a voice called to the man. He turned his head to see a few of the ninjas marching over to him.

"We have completed our mission" the man said as he stepped away from Syaoran's body. He turned his head to face the rest of the grounds.

"Burn this place down" he ordered, walking off towards the entrance.

"Yes, sir" the ninjas started casting fire spells to burn down the buildings.

------------------------------

Black smoke from the fire was rising high in the air, filling the sky with even more darkness. The rain was still beating down heavily as Yelan, Wei and seven other servants made their way to the training grounds. Yelan really began to worry when she sensed a disturbance in Syaoran's life aura.

"COME ON, HURRY!" Yelan called back as she ran frantically up the path.

They ignored the smashed gates and ran straight inside. They all stood in shock at the sight of the bodies and the burning buildings. Yelan's eyes where clouded with tears.

"WE HAVE TO FIND SYAORAN!" she desperately cried, looking around in all directions.

Wei turned to the others and started giving orders.

"YOU THREE PUT THIS FIRE OUT, YOU TWO LOOK FOR ANY SURVIVORS AND YOU TWO COME WITH ME!"

He ran off towards the main temple with Yelan and two servants following closely. They arrived in a few seconds and were confronted with the sight of the dead Elders. Yelan turned her head to where Syaoran's body lay.

The Elder that fought the man was still alive and had managed to drag himself over towards Syaoran. He was casting some sought of spell on him.

"Master Shieng!" Wei called as he rushed over to the both of them. Yelan immediately rushed to Syaoran.

The Elder didn't have much time left. He looked up at Yelan and whispered

"He…should be…alright…" he then started to cough up blood.

"Who did this?" Yelan asked, cradling Syaoran in her arms as tears ran down hear cheeks.

"A man…in dark armour…" he paused as the pain from his wound started to really kick at him. " He claims to have been sent…by Jigoku…"

Everyone froze in shock at the name. It couldn't be possible…

"This will be the trial…for Little Wolf…" he continued, placing his hand on Syaoran's forehead. "Good luck…" he slightly smiled, then passed out.

"Master…" Yelan whispered

"He's gone…" Wei frowned, with his head hanging down. He then raised it to talk to Yelan.

"Let's get him inside"

He went to pick up Syaoran, but Yelan stopped him.

"I'll take him" she said, rising from the ground with Syaoran in her arms. Wei turned back to the other two.

"Let's help the others"

They all ran over to the others to help put out the fire, while Yelan quickly walked back to the house carrying Syaoran.

A/n this story will get better (hopefully...)also in the next chapter i will be introducing some characters i made.


	3. Awakened

Disclaimer: i do not own Cardcaptor Sakura

Chapter 2

Stranger and Raine

Two days later 

It was a quiet morning at the Li residence. Fudie, Xuehua, Huanglian, Feimei and Meilin all sat in the living room watching one of Tomoyo Daidouji's tapes. But instead of the usual cheering and cooing, they all sat silently with various troubled expressions.

"How long do you think it will be before Syaoran wakes up?" Huanglian asked with a depressed look on her face.

"I'm sure he will be up in no time, he always seems to recover pretty quickly whenever he's sick" Fudie replied.

"But this is different, he isn't ill…" Huanglian mumbled.

Fudie turned to Meilin, who sat beside her.

"Meilin, does miss Kinomoto know about the situation with Syaoran?"

"Well, Auntie Yelan told me to call her and make up some story so she wouldn't worry about anything. I told her the Elders needed to keep him here for some extra training before he left" Meilin didn't look up when she spoke.

"How did she react?" Feimei silently questioned from across the room.

"Well, she tried not to show it but I can tell it depressed her" she continued to watch the tape with a blank expression.

There was a sudden knock at the front door, and each of the girls attentions were drawn away from the television. After a couple of seconds, they heard the door open and then Wei's voice.

"Yes? May I help you?"

"We're here to see Yelan Li" the voice was that of a young woman.

"Ah, we have been expecting you. Please follow me"

They heard multiple footsteps pass by the door. The girls all stood up off the sofas and peeked out of the door. They managed to catch a glimpse of a young man and woman, who both seem to be wearing some odd clothes.

-----------------------------

Yelan stood in her room looking out of her window and into the garden. She couldn't stop thinking about all of the things that has happened. The murder of all the innocent people, the Elders, the attack on Syaoran…and the possibility that the rumour of Jigoku returning was true.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on the door. She turned to face the door.

"Come in"

The door opened and Wei stepped in.

"The guests are here, Lady Yelan" he stated, showing in two people.

"Thank you, Wei"

He bowed slowly then left the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Yelan allowed the two people to sit on her bed as she sat down on a small cushioned chair.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Yelan-san" the young lady spoke politely.

"My name is Raine Enoeda, daughter of master Enoeda, the chief of the Tamashii clan"

She was a girl aged around 19 with long, silver hair tied back in a ponytail. She wore a ninja-like kimono with the symbols of fire, water, wind and thunder running down both arms.

" You can call me Stranger" The young man didn't seem to be as polite as the girl.

He wasn't as nicely dressed, either. He looked as if he had been through the wars. A bandage covered his right eye; he wore an old looking boiler suit with holes in and had a scratched up chest plate. He looked to be the same age as Raine.

"We heard about the incident that happened a couple of days ago, what has happened to the clan heir?"

"He is recovering, thanks to master Shieng" she bowed her head in his remembrance.

"That's good, we'd be in trouble otherwise" Stranger began to look around the room.

"Have you found anything on the attackers?" Yelan questioned the two.

"Well thanks to the Tamashii clan's amazing spy network, we managed to find some information on the attackers. The man in dark armour who was here a couple of days ago is called Ginryu. He is one of four major leaders in a clan that is unfortunately involved with Jigoku" Raine informed.

Yelan lowered her head.

"So it is true…" she mumbled.

"The names of two other leaders are Kyofu and Kanashimi. That's all we can find on them"

Yelan looked up at them.

"What about the last one?"

"We can't find anything on the last one. Not many people have actually seen him let alone got his name" Stranger commented.

"At any rate, we will find out who these people are. I'm sure we'll encounter them during our journey" Raine spoke towards Yelan.

"As soon as wolfie's up, we're outta here" Stranger took a canteen from his belt and began to drink from it.

Yelan watched the young man guzzle down the liquid inside (It definitely wasn't water) then turned back to Raine.

"Are you _sure_ everything will be all right?" she looked uneasy.

"You have nothing to worry about, I assure you" Raine said, with a smile.

After finishing his drink, Stranger turned back to the conversation.

"Oh, we also found out something else" he said, catching Yelan's attention.

"What is it?" she asked, curiously.

"Apparently, they have two more targets that they may be going after in this world"

Yelan began to feel nervous.

"Who are they?" she asked, leaning in to hear his response.

-----------------------------

Meanwhile, in Syaoran's room 

"uuhhhhh…where am I?"

Syaoran had awoken from his deep sleep to find himself on a bed, covered in bandages. He took a quick glance around the room, and recognised it as his own.

"What happened? How did I get here?" he began to question himself, then suddenly he had a slight headache and a memory flashed in his head

Flashback

"_WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" Syaoran questioned while throwing a cold glare at the man. _

"_My name is Ginryu. And I have come to kill you, Li clan heir."_

End Flashback

"Ginryu…" Syaoran began to feel a surge of anger through his body as he said that name.

He then began to remember all the people the man had killed. About their fight, about when he…

Syaoran quickly glanced down at his chest. He checked the bandages then raised his head again.

"I'm alive…" he began to wonder how long he'd been out until something else struck him. Something the man had said before.

Flashback

"_THAT WAS IT!" he looked down at the defeated boy with an expression of disappointment. He then sighed._

"_He was right, this boy doesn't deserve to become the clan leader…" he growled._

"_W-what are y-you talking about…?" Syaoran stuttered in confusion as the pain continued to immobilize him._

_The man turned his dark eyes back to Syaoran._

"_It's nothing you will have to worry about" he smirked._

End flashback

"What was he talking about? Who was right?" he began to hold head in confusion until he decided he should get up and find his mother or anyone else who might know what is going on.

He slowly got out of bed and staggered over to his wardrobe. There were no clothes in there, but he then noticed his suitcases on the floor. He opened them, chucked on any old shirt and trousers then walked out his room heading towards the stairs. On his way though, he began to hear the conversation that took place in his mother's bedroom.

"Are you absolutely certain about this?"

He recognised that as the voice of his mother. She sounded terrified, but instead of entering the room to find out what it was about he crouched down outside the doorway to listen in.

"Yes, that is what they said" a female voice he did not recognise responded to his mothers question.

"Then you must help her. You have to keep her safe!" Yelan's voice was beginning to sound desperate.

Syaoran began to wonder who they were talking about. He then heard someone else speak, but this time it was a male voice.

"I'm pretty sure they will be fine, I heard that they are powerful magicians"

"We cannot take that chance. I know that Clow Reed's reincarnation can handle himself, but miss Kinomoto on the other hand may not be safe!" Yelan's words then began to echo in Syaoran's mind.

'Sakura's in danger?' he was beginning to panic.

"I know you are worried for the card mistress but we have a mission to escort the clan heir to the five seals. We really don't have time to run around rescuing magicians when there is only a small chance of them actually being in danger" the female voice spoke again.

Syaoran couldn't sit around listening to this anymore. His Sakura was in danger and these people were refusing to help her.

'I have to get to Tomoeda'

He got up and quickly ran back to his room.

-----------------------------

Ten minutes had passed and the argument had continued. Yelan was trying to convince the two that they could easily help the card mistress while Syaoran recovered, but they continued to state that it could just be a waste of time. The argument was broken when Meilin and the four sisters barged into the room.

"SYOARAN'S GONE!" they all screamed in unison.

Yelan looked at them all in complete shock.

"What? What do you mean he's gone?"

"Quickly! Come with us!" the girls led the three people to Syaoran's room.

They all rushed inside and found that it was empty. Yelan stood on the spot, glancing to see Syaoran's moneybox tipped upside down on the floor, his suitcases opened with some of his clothes pulled out and his sword was missing from the rack on which she had placed it. The last thing she noticed was that the window was open.

"Where could he have gone?" Feimei asked, the question available for anyone to answer.

After a few seconds of silence, Yelan turned to leave the room.

"There is only one place he could have gone to" she spoke, not looking back to anyone.

"Where?" was the question that many asked in unison.

"Japan" she answered, walking back down the hall.

-----------------------------

Tomoeda, seven hours later 

School had just finished and Sakura began to head home with Tomoyo. They had walked most of the way in silence, until Tomoyo started up a conversation.

"Sakura-chan, you don't seem to cheerful today, is something wrong?"

Sakura continued to walk in silence, until she turned to answer her friend's question.

"I'm all right, it's just that… Syaoran should be here…" She trailed off as her thoughts began to fill with images of Syaoran.

"You don't have to worry Sakura-chan, Meilin-chan said it was only delayed for a few days" Tomoyo tried to assure her.

"But it HAS been a few days…" she dropped her head and sighed.

"He should be here, with me…"

"Sakura-chan…" Tomoyo looked at her friend sympathetically, and then quickly tried to cheer her up.

"Say, why don't we go to my house? I have some new costumes that I would like you to try out!" she clapped cheerfully.

Instead of cheering her up, that seemed to make her feel worse. Sakura continued to drift forward with her head down until she suddenly stopped, her head quickly shooting up.

"Sakura-chan? What's wrong?" she asked as she noticed the sudden change in her expression.

"I can sense something, something…strange…" she glanced around, then realised where it was coming from.

"It's coming from Penguin Park!"

The two girls ran for the park, Sakura with her star key ready and Tomoyo with her camcorder in hand. When they arrived nobody was around, but Sakura could feel that the presence was now stronger. She released her star staff then continued to look around.

"Sakura-chan do you know what it is?" Tomoyo asked with her camera focused on Sakura's confused expression.

"I don't know, I haven't sensed anything like this before…" she stopped talking when she heard something moving behind her.

Quickly spinning around she caught a glimpse of something jumping up into a tree.

"Who's there?"

Sakura took a few steps forward, until she noticed something approaching her from the right. But this time when she turned, nothing hid from her. Instead she saw five people flying towards her with swords.

A/n well i'm halfway through the next chapter, so that should be up soon. Thanks for the reviews


	4. Situation

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura

Chapter 3

For leadership and vengeance

'Please be safe, Sakura' Syaoran thought to himself as he ran through the streets of Tomoeda.

He was still feeling weak from his wound, but he kept going. Keeping Sakura safe was his top priority, despite the fact he was half dead and could collapse from fatigue at any second. When he finally made it to Sakura's house he rushed up to the front door and repeatedly pressed the doorbell.

'Please be home…'

The front door opened, and Fujitaka was standing there in his cooking apron.

"Oh my! Hello Li-kun! You've finally arrived here in Japan! Sakura's going to be so happy…"

"Please Mr Kinomoto, is Sakura here?" he interrupted

Fujitaka shook his head

"No, she hasn't got back from school yet."

"Dammit" Syaoran dropped his head.

"Is there something wrong? You look very worried "

Syaoran looked back up to him with a pleading look in his eyes

"Do you know where she is? Please, you have to tell me!"

Before Fujitaka could reply, a loud voice erupted from behind him

"GAKI!"

Touya stood in the hallway giving Syaoran a deathly cold stare. Yukito was standing next to him eating a pork bun.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU LITTLE…"

"Now, now, Touya. Don't be so mean" Fujitaka held out his hands to hold him back.

"Hello Li-kun, it's nice to see you again" Yukito smiled while he helped Fujitaka restrain Touya.

There wasn't time to mess around like this. He had to hurry.

"I need to know where Sakura is! She may be in danger!"

Everyone froze. Touya pulled his way out of the restraint and grabbed Syaoran by the collar.

"SAY WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?" the way Touya shouted nobody could tell if he was angry or worried.

There was silence for a moment before Kero zoomed downstairs from Sakura's room and flew in front of everybody

"Hey everyone! I can sense something strange over at the Penguin Park and I think Sakura is there!"

Touya immediately dropped Syaoran and grabbed Kero.

"IS SHE IN DANGER?" he bellowed at the yellow creature

"I-it's possible" Kero was struggling to breath as Touya tightened his grip on him.

Syaoran lifted himself off the floor and ran back outside towards the park. Not before long Touya let go of Kero and followed suit along with Yukito.

"Geez, he's either really worried about Sakura or has just got a serious attitude problem" Kero commented about Touya as he flew out after them.

--------------------------

Penguin Park

"JUMP!"

Sakura leapt out of the way as the ninjas flew in from various directions, slashing their swords furiously.

'Who are these people?' she wondered as she landed on the penguin statue.

"Tomoyo-chan!" she called out to her friend, who seems to have disappeared.

More ninjas appeared from the forest and advanced on the young girl. They threw shuriken and fired magical attack spells in her direction, but she leapt high into the air whilst pulling out another card.

"WOOD!"

Hundreds of vines entrapped many of the attackers, but most of them avoided this and continued with their attacks.

'How am I going to beat these guys?'

As she landed down by the climbing frame she felt a very strong dark presence approaching from behind. She quickly turned to she a woman in a dark red dress holding a fan.

"Hello there, my dear" she gave an unusual bright smile.

Sakura just stared at the woman with a very confused look on her face.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The woman continued to smile as she spoke to someone behind Sakura

"I will deal with this"

Sakura spun her head around to see that the ninjas had disappeared. Turning back she noticed the woman had raised her fan.

"I am terribly sorry my dear, but I have to destroy you"

Sakura's eyes widened in shock as hundreds of darts began to fire out of the fan towards her.

"SHIELD!"

Sakura successfully deflected the projectiles, but was unaware that the floor beneath her was crumbling. Just as she noticed, the ground exploded and sent her flying across the park. She was heading straight for a tree, but she never hit it. Instead, Sakura landed in someone's arms.

"Syaoran!" she looked up to see it was him who had caught her.

"Are you all right, Sakura?" he asked, concerned.

She hugged him as he held her.

"I am now" she whispered.

"Oh my, isn't that adorable" the woman laughed

Syaoran looked over to the woman and sent her a cold glare. She once again raised her fan, ready for another attack. Syaoran leapt out of the way as a beam of light shot out towards them.

For a moment, the woman looked at the amber-eyed boy as he scrambled to his feet whilst protectively holding Sakura.

"You…you're not the…Li clan heir, are you?" she asked in suspicion

"What if I am?" he growled back.

"Well now, I am impressed…" another smile crept across her face.

"Hey, enough of this!" Keroberos flew in and shot a ball of fire towards the woman, who managed to block the attack.

Yue and Touya also showed up on the scene, moving in front of Sakura and Syaoran. Touya looked down at the two, and growled at Syaoran

"She better not be hurt, gaki"

"More for me to eliminate, how fun!" the woman summoned a tornado out of the fan, which hurtled towards the group. Yue and Keroberos raised their shields to stop the attack.

"You're not getting past us!" Keroberos yelled at the woman.

She continued to fire at them, until she sensed something.

"Oh dear, it's seems that I must leave. Good bye" she said as if she was in a hurry.

There was a bright flash of light, and then she disappeared.

"Who the hell?" Touya grumbled

Sakura suddenly jumped up off of the ground and screamed

"Where's Tomoyo-chan?"

"I'm over here, Sakura-chan!"

Everyone turned to see Tomoyo walking towards them.

"Where were you?" Sakura asked

"I was over there, recording your amazing battle!" she cheered

Sakura sighed in relief, and then turned back to Syaoran. She noticed how he looked exhausted.

"Are you all right, Syaoran? You don't look so good" she was very concerned

"Don't worry about me, Sakura. I'm fine" he forced a smile

"We'll just see about that!" A young girls voice carried across the park.

"Meilin-chan!" Sakura exclaimed as she saw Meilin and two strangely dressed people walking over to them.

"What do you think you were doing? Running off like that, you had us all worried!" Meilin shouted at Syaoran.

"What are you doing here, Meilin?" Syaoran asked

"Chasing after you! You could've gotten yourself killed!" She seemed more worried than angry

"Calm down" the young woman behind Meilin spoke. She then turned to the others.

"My name is Raine Enoeda and this is Stranger. We need to speak with Li-san"

"What do you want?" Syaoran asked rather sourly

"It's about all this that has happened, and how you can stop it. We really should go somewhere to discuss this" Raine began to look around

"We'll go to my house" Sakura suggested.

She took Syaorans hand, and led them back to her house.

----------------------------

Sakura's house

The group all sat in the living room. Sakura and Syaoran shared a seat, Touya and Yukito where sitting across the room, Tomoyo and Meilin where on the couch, Stranger and Raine both stood up while Fujitaka was standing by the doorway. They all listened in as Raine began to explain the situation.

"Many years ago, there was a great demon lord who was sealed away by the legendary 'Final Heavens' after he tried to gain control of the universe. There were five temples built in different worlds which contained the seals, each one protected by special guardians"

"You mean like monsters?" Meilin asked with a slight hint of excitement in her voice. Raine nodded.

"Although now those guardians were destroyed and the seals have been broken, releasing the demon from his prison. It is now up to the Li clan heir to fix the seals and defeat the him." Raine looked over to Syaoran.

"Up to me? Why?" Syaoran had a look of confusion

"The Final Heavens was made up of six warriors. Five of those used their powers to seal the demon while the leader fought against it. That leader was Li Kai ku, your ancestor"

There was silence for a moment as everyone took in all of this information.

"So it's all up to the kid to fight the demon and save the world? We're doomed" Kero smirked.

"KERO!" Sakura yelled at the guardian while Syaoran glared at him

"Stupid plush toy"

"What! Say that to my face!" Kero became enraged

Before a major argument could break out Stranger interrupted the two

"Raine and I will help you out"

"So will I!" Sakura spoke up

Touya suddenly became alert to what Sakura just said

"HELL NO! I FORBID IT!"

"You can't say what I can or can't do, oniichan!" she shouted back

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!"

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, he's just worried about you" Yukito smiled

"Shut up!" Touya whispered back to Yukito, who was giggling

"Actually…" Raine began to speak and everyone turned to her

"I think it would be a good idea for Miss Kinomoto to come along. She has very strong magic and that can really help us out"

"Really? Hooray!" Sakura jumped for joy and hugged Syaoran, who was still glaring at Kero.

At that moment the doorbell rang, and Fujitaka stepped out of the room to answer it.

"If this means I will get the chance to record Sakura-chan wearing some more of my costumes, I'll go!" Tomoyo squealed, pointing her camcorder over to where Sakura and Syaoran were sitting

"If miss Daidouji goes, I go too" Meilin cried

"Of course, we need all the help we can get" Raine smiled.

As the two girls began to cheer, Stranger leaned over to Raine

"Are you sure about this?" he whispered to her, looking slightly worried.

"It'll all be fine" she reassured him.

"I will also accompany you on this trip" a familiar voice filled the room.

Everyone turned to see a blue haired boy standing by the doorway.

"Eriol-kun!" Sakura and Tomoyo cried simultaneously. Everyone else just stared at him.

"Who're you?" Stranger asked

"Ah, you must be the two from another world. I am Eriol Hiirigizawa, the reincarnation of Clow Reed" he introduced himself.

Just then Fujitaka returned to the room, leading in Kaho Mizuki and Nakuru.

"HELLO EVERYONE! HELLO TOUYA!" Nakuru ran across the room and jumped onto Touyas lap.

"Oh no, not you!" Touya grunted

"Greetings, everyone" Kaho smiled and stood next to Eriol.

Kero flew up to the couple and began to hover around them

"Hey where's Suppi?"

"Right here" Eriol smiled as he opened a bag. Spinel then flew out and sat on the table, followed by Kero.

"What're you doing here?" Syaoran asked with a slightly hostile look on his face.

"Well my cute little descendant, we encountered some rather unfriendly people back home and I was sure something might have happened over here as well. By the way, how are you feeling? I heard you were killed"

Everyone suddenly froze.

"What?" Sakura turned to Syaoran with a very shocked and concerned look in her eyes.

"What does he mean by that Syaoran?" she asked him, not letting go of his arm.

"I-it's nothing, really" he tried to avoid telling her about what happened, but she kept staring into his eyes.

"Please tell me, what happened to you?" Sakura wouldn't stop asking.

"I'll tell you later. Please, don't worry" he managed to slightly calm her down, and then he wrapped his arms around her.

"Everything's okay…" he whispered into her ear

Everyone, with the exception of Touya, smiled at the little moment between the two. Tomoyo of course captured this all on video.

"So Kawaii!" she exclaimed

"So now we have the assistance of Clow Reeds reincarnation. That really should make the journey easier" Raine gave another smile.

"Hey, what really could make this easier is if we get a load more wizards to join us. We can send an army of them out to take care of this so we wouldn't have to do a thing" Stranger mumbled sarcastically.

Raine turned and gave a Stranger a cold stare. Everyone noticed the look of fear on Strangers face as Raine looked at him.

'What's that all about?' Syaoran thought

"Oh, one last thing" Stranger quickly shifted to pick up his bag and pulled out a brown envelope.

"Your mum asked us to give you these" He then handed it to Syaoran.

Syaoran opened the envelope to find some Ofudas and move scrolls with advanced sword techniques inscribed in them. He also found a small book that contained various hand-written notes on specialised moves for unarmed combat. At the very bottom of the package was a small note with his mother's handwriting on it.

_Syaoran_

_These are items that belonged to your father. They will prove useful on you journey if you take the time to master them._

_Master Shieng decided that this journey will be your trial for the clan leadership._

_Good luck_

_Mother_

'My trial…and my chance for vengeance' he thought back to Ginryu.

"When're we leaving?" Meilin asked, unable to sit still through excitement.

"Well, I think it would be best if we left tomorrow, it's already been a tiring day" Raine said

"Great! Everyone can stay at my house!" Tomoyo began to cheer.

------------------------------

Elsewhere

"He is still alive?"

"Yes, my Lord. He prevented me from eliminating the card mistress" The woman kneeled before the elderly man, who sat on his throne with a very annoyed look on his face.

He slowly raised his hand and began to scratch his chin.

"I am very impressed. He may not be as weak as Keung thought…" He began to slowly close his eyes.

"The attack on the Clow reincarnation was also a failure. What is it you want us to do?" the woman asked as she stood up off the ground.

"Just carry on as planned" he began to drift away into a sleeping state.

"Yes, my Lord" She turned away and walked out of the hall.

"Even if you make it to the Great Hall Li clan heir, you will not be able to defeat me" he mumbled as he slept.

A/n Well, this chapter would've been up earlier but I had to work on a 'Resident Evil' project with my brother. The next chapter will be the start of the dimension travelling


	5. Beginnings

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura

Chapter 4

First steps in a new world

**Sakuras house**

Everyone left the living room and stood out in the hallway, preparing to leave for Tomoyos house.

"Alright, so it'll be Meilin, Hiirigizawa, Daidouji, Nakuru, Tsukishiro, Spinel, Kero, Kinomoto and Wolfie who'll be coming with us on the journey" Stranger looked around as he called the names.

"Why did you call me 'Wolfie'?" Syaoran asked, looking slightly annoyed

"What, don't you like it? I think it suits you" Stranger chuckled

"Aww, isn't Touya coming as well?" Nakuru whined and latched onto his arm

"No, now get off me!" Touya shook his arm, trying to get the girl to let go

"But could you at least come to see us off?"

"Only if you let go of me" Touya growled at her, and she let go of his arm.

"Alright! Where are we all going to meet up then?" Nakuru cried

"We could all meet up at the Tsukimine shrine tomorrow morning at 9.00" Eriol suggested

"That sounds okay" Sakura smiled

"It would be okay if you could at least wake up that early" Kero commented, as he flew upstairs

"Alright, we should get going now" Tomoyo opened the front door, and everyone began to walk out of the house.

Meilin stepped over towards Tomoyo with a question

"Hey, Miss Daidouji. How are you going to explain all of this" Meilin began to point towards the large group of people who she has just invited to her house "to your mother?"

"I'll think of something, don't worry" Tomoyo gave an odd grin

"You coming, Syaoran?" Meilin asked, standing halfway out the door

Syaoran thought for a second, then walked back over to Sakura

"I am going to stay here for just a while longer"

"Oh, okay then. See you tomorrow Miss Kinomoto" Meilin waved and closed the door behind her.

"And just WHO said that you could stay here for a while longer?" Touya looked over with to Syaoran with a glare that could kill.

"I did, oniichan. So leave Syaoran alone" Sakura threatened her brother as she and Syaoran headed back to the living room. When they got there, they sat down together on the sofa.

"We're going to be travelling to different worlds… it sounds so exciting!" Sakura beamed a smile to Syaoran

"Yeah…but it could also be dangerous" He warned, but Sakura just smiled again

"We already faced many dangers when it came to capturing the cards. And besides…"

She moved closer and took both his hands in her own

"As long as you are by my side, I will always be safe"

Syaoran couldn't help but smile. He released his hands and brought Sakura into an embrace.

"Syaoran…can I ask you something?" she whispered, lifting her head slightly

"Of course, Sakura" He looked down into her eyes

"Earlier, Eriol-kun said that you were…killed…"

Syaorans eyes widened. He knew where this was going

"What did he mean by that Syaoran?"

He looked away from her, not wanting to have to answer the question.

"Syaoran, please tell me" she gripped onto his shirt, and by doing so she noticed something. She saw part of the bandages that covered Syaoran.

"What's this?" she really began to worry now

"That's just… it's nothing"

"It's not nothing! Syaoran, I have to know what happened to you"

He gave a deep sigh. He couldn't avoid telling her after what Eriol had said and the fact that she had now seen his bandages.

"Sakura, if I told you what happened would you please calm down?"

She nodded furiously, and he then sank back into his seat as he began to tell her about the previous day. After he had finished the story, Sakura looked at him with sad eyes

"That person, Ginryu. He killed all of those people…then tried to kill you?"

He nodded slowly

"So for the past couple of days…you were in a coma?"

"That's right"

"Syaoran…" She hugged him really hard, horrified at the thought of him being killed by some madman in dark armour.

Syaoran looked at the clock on the wall of the living room. It was getting pretty late and they needed to be up early tomorrow morning.

"Sakura, I should get going now…"

"Stay with me…just for a while longer" she mumbled into his shirt.

"Okay…" He wrapped his arms around her, and they both sat in silence together in a world of their own for the next hour

-------------------------------

**Tsukimine shrine, the next morning**

After a night at Tomoyos house Syaoran, Meilin, Tomoyo, Eriol, Nakuru, Spinel (Who was in Eriols bag), Stranger and Raine all stood underneath the cherry tree at the shrine. Each carried with them a small bag containing their personal effects (Syaoran carried his sword on his back and Tomoyo had her camcorder complete with spare tapes and batteries). They were waiting for the final members of the group to turn up.

"What's the time?" Nakuru asked

Tomoyo looked at her watch

"It's 9.23"

"And Miss Kinomoto's still not here" Meilin said with a 'why am I not surprised' tone in her voice.

"Tsukishiro isn't here either" Eriol noticed

Tomoyo looked over to the shrine entrance

"There they are now" she pointed out.

Everyone saw Sakura, Yukito and Touya walking up the pathway towards them.

"Sorry I'm late!" Sakura cried, running to Syaoran

"That's okay, Sakura" Syaoran smiled, whilst giving her a hug.

The backpack that Sakura carried began to shake, then it opened up and Kero stuck his head out

"Hey, are we going or what? It's getting pretty hot in this bag" he grumbled

"Okay Kero, calm down" Sakura let go of Syaoran and walked over to where Tomoyo and Meilin where standing.

"Good morning!" Sakura greeted the two and they greeted her back.

"By the way Tomoyo-chan, what did you say to mother about this? I mean we are going on a long journey and we don't know when we're going to get back"

"There's nothing to worry about, Sakura-chan. I told mother that these were relatives of Meilin-chan and Li-kun, and that they had invited us to stay with them over in Hong Kong for the summer" Tomoyo giggled

Syaoran began to walk over to Sakura until he felt someone grab onto his shirt with real force. He turned to see Touya glaring at him.

"If anything happens to Sakura, I'm holding you responsible gaki"

Syaoran returned the glare

"I'll never let anything happen to her. I will guard Sakura with my life" Syaoran stated, twisting his way out of Touyas vice-like grip.

Touya then watched as Syaoran walked over to Sakura and took hold of her hand. He already knew that Syaoran would keep his little sister safe no matter what, but he also couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen at the end of their journey.

"You better take care of yourself too, kid" Touya whispered. He turned to see Yukito smiling at him.

"Well I'll see you later then, Touya"

"Be careful out there, Yuki. And…" Touya then leaned over to him

"Keep an eye on those two for me, will you?" he motioned his head towards Sakura and Syaoran, and then Yukito smiled again.

"YOOHOO, TOUYA!" Nakurus voice filled the air as she then ran up to him and jumped onto his back

"You're not going to let me go without a goodbye kiss, are you?" She cooed into his ear

"I've got to get to work now. See you all later" Touya shook Nakuru off his back and walked off towards the shrine entrance

"Hey, that's not fair!" She moaned after him

Raine waved her hands to get everyone's attention as she stepped in front of the cherry tree.

"Okay then now that we're all here, let's get going"

Holding out her hands, a small ball of light rose from her palms and hovered over her head. The ball flashed a couple of times, then a small twister spun out and surrounded the group as they all stood huddled up together.

"I suggest you guy's hold onto something, this usually isn't a pleasant ride" Stranger called over to everyone as the wind became stronger.

Hearing that, Syaoran tightened his grip on Sakuras hand and she did the same. The twister then began to change colours, and everyone suddenly lifted off the ground.

"Here we go" Raine smiled

The colourful twister suddenly flashed a bright green, and then everything around them went dark. The strong winds became weaker, but there was the feeling that they were flying at a high speed.

"Syaoran, what's happening? Are we flying?" Sakura asked him as she gripped onto his arm

"I think so…huh?" A bright light ahead of them suddenly caught Syaoran's attention.

The light was flashing and twirling as they headed straight for it. Before they knew it the entire had group crash-landed in a big pile in a dusty old alleyway.

--------------------------

**Ancient city of Shenhua**

"Is everyone okay? Anybody hurt or anything?" Raine asked around with concern

Syaoran picked himself up off the ground, but not before helping Sakura up.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm okay, thank you Syaoran" Sakura suddenly remembered about Kero, who was in her bag.

She opened it to check on him, and he suddenly flew out in front of her

"Are you okay Kero?"

"That was some ride" Kero laughed, who then flew over to Eriol

"Hey, how's Suppi?"

Spinel found his way out of Eriols bag

"I'm okay, thank you" Spinel replied

"I think we're all fine" Eriol Smiled whilst he helped up Tomoyo and Meilin

"Speak for yourself" Stranger groaned whilst rubbing the back of his head.

Syaoran glanced around the alley and noticed they were in-between two large sandstone buildings. He could hear the sound of horses galloping by and crowds of people in the distance.

"Where are we?"

"The ancient city of Shenhua, situated out in the middle of a desert. We can find all the information we need about the temple and the seals from the mayor of this city, Regent Chen" Raine said

"You know the mayor? Have you been here before then?" Syaoran looked slightly puzzled

"Yes, once before. Now if I can remember, his estate should be at the far side of the city. We should be somewhere near the Green Market Quarter, meaning we should head north to find it" She began to slowly rub the side of her head as she talked.

Everyone noticed something about the way Raine spoke, that there was a hint of tiredness in her voice. It wasn't just that though, her eyes were drooping.

"Are you alright?" Tomoyo asked, placing her hand on Raines shoulder

"I'm fine…" she forced a smile

And with that, she collapsed onto the floor. Everyone jumped back in shock.

"Ah, hell" Stranger cursed, quickly rushing to her side.

"W-what's happened to her?" Sakura asked, sharing the same worried expression that everyone else held.

Eriol walked over and placed his hand on Raines forehead. He concentrated for a moment, then turned to the others

"She seems to have passed out due to an extreme power drain"

"Extreme power drain?" Kero hovered over the unconscious woman

"It takes a lot of magic power to travel between dimensions. Raine has the ability to transport four people with no amount of trouble, but taking more than that will cause her to pass out" Stranger began to lift Raine onto his back "That is what I was worried about"

"If she knew all of this, why did she…" Syaoran began to question him, but was cut off

"Because that's the way Raine is. Trust me when I say this, don't argue with her about anything because she can be scary when she gets mad. REALLY scary"

Everyone stood in silence for a moment.

"Will she be alright?" Sakura asked with deep concern

"A couple of hours sleep and she'll be fine" Eriol assured her

"Hey, can we get going now? This place smells kinda funny" Nakuru complained as she wiped the dirt off her bag

Stepping forward, Syaoran moved towards the exit of the alley. He took a quick glance out then turned to Stranger

"Have you been here before as well? Do you know how to get to the mayors house?" he asked

"Of course. By the way, the people of this city know about magic so they won't give a second thought about those things" Stranger motioned his head to Kero and Spinel

"Who are you calling a thing!" Kero protested

----------------------

**Green Market Quarter**

"Wow…" Everyone gasped in amazement as they wandered through the busy streets of the old city.

Being in the middle of the desert it was very hot and sunny with sand everywhere. Sandstone buildings and towering structures surrounded them, people wearing Chinese-style robes mobbed market stalls which sell exotic foods and handcrafted souvenirs, all while horse drawn carriages cruised down the roads.

"This place is certainly busy" Tomoyo exclaimed, recording the sights with her camcorder

"It usually is. It'll be even busier tomorrow though, that's market day" Stranger informed her.

"Hey, people are giving us odd looks" Syaoran looked around cautiously

As they walked along, it did seem that the locals were staring at them strangely.

"It could be because you're carrying an unconscious girl on your back" Spinel hovered over to Stranger

"I don't think that's the case" He began to follow Syaoran's cautious glances

"Nah, they're probably just amazed to see such a cool looking beast like me here" Kero grinned as he flew alongside Yukito

"Gimme a break…" Syaoran sighed

"Maybe it's our clothes" Sakura said

"If that's so, I could make you some so we do blend in!" Tomoyo cheered

"I think we would stand out even more with the clothes you make Tomoyo-chan" Sakura whined

Before they reached the end of the road, a loud demanding voice boomed from behind them

"YOU PEOPLE IN THE STRANGE CLOTHES, STOP WHERE YOU ARE"

Everyone in the group froze

A/n I would've updated this earlier, but my grandmother has been hospitalised due to an accident so I'm helping to look after my grandfather while she's away. I posted some character sketches for my story on a website that my brother and I are currently developing. The link is in my profile


	6. Misunderstanding

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura

Chapter 5

Off to a bad start

"_YOU PEOPLE IN THE STRANGE CLOTHES, STOP WHERE YOU ARE"_

_Everyone in the group froze._

Slowly, everyone turned around to find the owner of the voice. They were shocked to see ten men in silver plated armour marching towards them.

"Royal guards…" Stranger mumbled

Syaoran looked to Stranger with an accusing glance

"When you said you've been to this world before, you didn't do anything incriminating while you were here did you?"

"No, of course not" Stranger defended himself

One of the men stepped forward, with his hand grasping the hilt of his sheathed sword. His eyes swept over the group, mentally noting the weapon Syaoran carried, the unconscious girl being carried about and two flying creatures.

"You're all from another dimension, right? State your business here" the man spoke in a very low voice, with his eyes narrowing

"We are here to speak with Regent Chen. We have something important to discuss with him" Stranger spoke up

The man looked back at him, his expression changed into a scowl

"What exactly do you wish to see the Regent about?"

"It's something we can only talk about with him. Now if you don't mind, we'll be going now…"

Before his sentence was finished, the other men had surrounded them with their weapons drawn.

"You are going nowhere. You're all now under arrest"

Everyone held a look of shock and confusion

"What? What for?" Nakuru questioned

"Due to recent events, it is now part of our law that anyone from outside of this world must be detained without question. Drop all of your belongings, place your hands on your heads and get down on the ground" the man demanded

'Recent events?' Syaoran thought

"This isn't good" Yukito worriedly looked around

"Hey listen, we're not here to cause any trouble. We're friends of the Regent, if you just let us see him, we can have this all sorted out" Stranger tried to reason with the men, but they wouldn't listen. For some reason, the mention of the Regent made them angrier

"Shut up and drop the girl" they spat back at him

Frowning, Stranger kneeled down and carefully placed Raine on the ground. Tomoyo and Meilin stepped back next to Eriol and Syaoran stood protectively in front of Sakura, as two guys tried to push them about.

"Get down, NOW" One of them ordered, but Syaoran just looked back at him with a cold glare

"What's your problem kid? Hand over your sword and get down on the ground" the other man growled, holding out his hand

Syaoran noticed that Strangers right foot was shifting in an odd manner. He then realised that he was preparing for an attack. Eriol and Meilin also noticed this.

"I don't think that's a good idea" Eriol whispered to him

"Do you have any bright ideas?" he quickly shot back at Eriol

"I think we should do as they say, and get down"

"Hmm…I like my idea better" Stranger grinned

"So do I" Meilin said, clenching her fists

Syaoran listened into their conversation and unfortunately let his guard down.

"I ordered you to hand over your weapon!" one of the guys hit Syaoran in the chest with the butt of their sword, causing him to drop to the floor. The man hit his chest wound directly.

"Syaoran!" Sakura quickly dropped to his side and wrapped her arms around him as he coughed and choked.

"Why did you hurt him? We didn't do anything wrong!" Sakura shouted angrily at the man

"We'll be the judges of that"

"Okay then, I think your plan is better" Eriol quickly said to Stranger, who then gave another grin.

"Good" he replied, giving a signal with his eyebrow to the others.

In a split second, he raised his foot and snap kicked the closest man to him under the chin, causing them to fly across the road. Meilin quickly followed this up as she caught one of them in a wristlock and threw them to the ground.

"What?"

The men jumped in shock at these actions and quickly raised their swords, but they were not fast enough to defend against the attacks from Meilin and Stranger who had already knocked down four of them with lightning fast kicks and punches.

"Quick! Call for reinforcements and get the captain!"

The leader of the group charged forward, aiming his attack towards Sakura and Syaoran. Acting on instinct Syaoran drew his own sword and moved in front of Sakura, deflecting the oncoming attack.

"Bastard!" the man cried, and then went straight in for another attack.

Once again Syaoran deflected the sword attack, then countered this by striking his palm directly into the man's chest. It wasn't any old palm strike though; the force of the attack sent him flying backwards, his armour completely shattered and the ground that Syaoran stood on cracked within a five-meter radius. Not only that, nearly everyone who stood around him felt the ground tremor, shocking them all to no extent.

'What was that? Were did he learn that move?' Meilin pondered. They both learnt the same martial arts style, but she had never seen that before.

As more of the Royal guards started turning up to the scene, Kero, Spinel, Nakuru and Yukito transformed into their true forms and summoned a large shield to protect the group.

"Everyone, stay inside the shield! This should hold them back" Keroberos called out

The guards were slashing furiously at the shields trying to break them, but it was no use.

"Captain! There they are!"

This time, along came a tall man in gold plated armour. He stopped before the group, who stared at the tall man in shock.

"Terada-sensei!" Everyone cried in amazement.

Everyone stopped attacking the shield after the sudden outburst from the travellers. The man was indeed Mr Terada, but not the one they knew…

"Who are you people? Why are you attacking my men?" He replied with a very angry look on his face.

"We didn't start this fight, we are defending ourselves! And what are you doing here, Terada-sensei?" Syaoran asked, both shocked and confused like everyone else

"What are you talking about? How do you know my name, outsider?"

For a few seconds, there was silence. Then, Stranger stepped in front of everyone

"There must be a Terada that they know in their world too. There are many variations of different people out there"

Terada himself now stood in complete shock at the sight of the person who had just stepped forward.

"Stranger, it's you! Oh my… I am so sorry for this misunderstanding!" Terada turned to the other men

"What the hell did you think you were all doing? Do you even know who you are attacking? These are friends of the Regent! I told you to get me before you engage any outsiders! You must apologise to these people immediately" he bellowed, but he then noticed Raine, who was asleep on the floor "Miss Raine! Oh my god, is she alright?"

"She's fine. Listen, we have some very important business to discuss with Regent Chen. Can you please take us to him?" Stranger asked

He was silent at first, and then he began to nod his head

"Yes, yes of course. Please, follow me" Terada turned and ordered the men to cleanup the area, whilst the others began to pick up their belongings.

Syaoran held out his hand to help Sakura off of the ground

"Are you okay?"

"I'm alright, but what about you, Syaoran?" She placed her hand on his chest, were he was struck

"Don't worry, I'm fine"

She gave a relieved smile, and then she hooked onto his arm.

"Hey Syaoran" Meilin walked over to the couple "That move you did…what was that? I've never seen anything like that before"

Giving a slight grin, Syaoran reached into his bag and pulled out a notebook.

"It was a special move that my father developed. I was studying a few of them before we left"

"Amazing!" Sakura exclaimed

"I even caught it on my camera! It was such a wonderful shot, Li-kun protecting his precious Sakura-chan…" Tomoyo smiled as she replayed the footage on her camera whilst everyone else gave a nervous smile

Just then, Kero flew by giving Syaoran a strange look

"I'll admit it kid, that was a pretty cool move. But you still have a long way to go before you'll be as cool as ME"

"Enough chattering. Time to get going" Stranger called to the others as he lifted Raine onto his back.

The group now began to follow the Terada look-alike as he lead them to the Regents estate.

----------------------------------------

Regent Chen's estate

After a half-hour walk through the city, they finally made it to the Regents house. It was a large mansion that resided at the far end of the city. A dozen royal guards patrolled the grounds, who each saluted the captain as the group walked up to the front door.

"Captain Terada" a doorman greeted him

"These people wish to speak with the Regent. Please show them inside" Terada requested, but the doorman seemed a little cautious

"Are you sure sir?" he questioned, eyeing the group suspiciously

"Don't worry. You can trust them" Terada assured him

"Very well. Follow me then"

They were all lead into a large room near the front of the house. Large paintings hung on every wall, antique vases sat in each corner and an enormous marble fireplace stood against the far wall.

"Wait here please" the doorman then left the group standing in the centre of the room.

A few minutes later a short, middle-aged woman entered the room and stood in front of the fireplace.

"Mrs Chen" Stranger slightly bowed his head to the lady

"Hello again, Stranger…oh my, what has happened to Miss Raine?" She asked in concern

"She's only sleeping. Would you mind if I put her down somewhere?"

"Not at all. You can put her down in one of the rooms upstairs"

"Thanks. Back in a sec" Stranger said as he left the room

Now turning her attention to the others, she began to speak

"You wished to see my husband? I'm sorry, but he is unavailable at this time. Is there something I could help you with?"

"Uh, yeah. We're looking for a seal inside a temple, we were told you might know something about a it…" Syaoran began to halt his question as he noticed the woman's expression changing to sadness.

"I see…you're here about the great seal inside the hall of heroes. If you wish to enter it, I am afraid that is out of the question"

"Why?" Syaoran asked, sounding surprised

"We cannot allow anyone to enter the hall of heroes. Especially not now" Mrs Chen simply replied

"For what reason?" Nakuru asked

"Two months ago a group of four travellers forced their way inside killing many soldiers and destroyed the great seal. Because of that incident, we are unable to trust anyone from another world"

"Is that why those guards were so hostile towards us?" Eriol asked

"Yes. I'm sorry if they caused you any harm" she bowed as she spoke

"We are here to help, though. Surely you could let us inside…" Sakura spoke up, but was cut off by Mrs Chen

"I'm sorry, it is not up to me. Even if you are here to help, it is not that easy to get inside the hall"

There was silence for moment, until Syaoran asked

"Could you describe these travellers for us?"

"Let me see…" she rested her chin in her hand "according to the reports, there were three men and one woman. The woman wore a red dress and carried a fan, there was a large man in dark armour, another was dressed in some sought of dark cloak with chains…"

"That woman in the red dress…would that be the same one who was at Penguin Park?" Kero pondered

"Probably" Sakura thought back to the strange woman who they encountered the day before

"They must be the four leaders of the clan responsible for the revival of Jigoku" Stranger said as he wandered back into the room "According to some information from the Tamashii clans spy network, that woman's name is Kanashimi. The guy in chains must be Kyofu, while the man in dark armour…"

"Ginryu…" Syaoran finished the sentence, frowning in anger as he said that name.

"What about the fourth traveller?" Eriol asked.

"No-one saw his face…" she then turned to Syaoran "but he wore clothes very similar to yours"

As expected, everyone's eyes widened in surprise. Syaoran was wearing Li clan ceremonial robes; there really weren't many people who wore anything like those.

"When you say similar, how similar do you mean?" Sakura asked, seeing as Syaoran was too busy trying to get his head around the thought of someone from the Li clan being involved in all of this

"Practically identical. It even had that symbol on it" she pointed to the emblem on the front of Syaorans shirt.

Panicking slightly, Syaoran turned to Stranger

"Do you know the name of the fourth leader? Where he came from at all?" Syaoran was hoping for an answer, but Stranger was shaking his head.

"Nope"

There was an awkward silence for a couple of seconds, until Meilin spoke up

"In any case, what can we do to access the seal?"

"I could try talking to the Shenhua council, but I will need a lot to convince them that you will be able to help us"

"I'll go with you to see the council. Raine will also go when she wakes up and" Stranger turned his head to Eriol "Hiirigizawa seems to be the convincing type so he can come along as well"

"What makes you think I'm the convincing type?" Eriol asked with a curious smile

"You just have that look about you…"

"Very well, we can see the council first thing tomorrow morning. You are all welcome to stay here tonight as our guests"

A/n my grandmother has recovered and she is out of the hospital HURRAH! The next chapter I'm about halfway through so that should be up soon. I'll also be posting up more character sketches later


	7. City

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura

Chapter 6

First morning

------------------------------------

The forest outside the Li training grounds. Eleven years ago…

A young Syaoran lay on the floor, wincing in pain. He could feel the rain hitting his body and the sound of the thunder roaring through the skies. He slowly opened his eyes; his vision was uncoordinated and blurry, yet he could still make out what was happening in front of him. His father, Li Yuen, was fighting with a man in green robes bearing a resemblance to those worn by members of the Li clan. Unfortunately, it wasn't Yuen who was winning the battle.

"Not good enough…" the man smirked as he avoided one of Yuens thrust kicks, then countered by slamming his fist straight into his stomach.

Yuen felt the force of the strike travel through his body. He then became unable to stand, and fell backwards to the ground.

"I have proven that you are not strong enough to be the true leader. And that boy of yours…I will show that he isn't as strong as the Elders believe he is" the man narrowed his eyes as he stepped forward.

Yuen Looked over towards Syaoran, and noticed he was slowly regaining consciousness. He managed to rise to his feet, and moved towards his opponent

"I'll take you down, you treacherous bastard!" Yuen shouted in a fit of rage

Syaoran watched as his father bolted forward, throwing a punch at his opponent. He couldn't believe what had happened next. He saw the man avoid his fathers attack, hook a punch to the side of his ribs, slam his foot into the back of his knee and elbow strike the back of his head all in a blink of an eye. His father fell face down to the ground, defeated.

"F-father…" Syaoran groaned in pain, reaching his hand out to his fallen parent.

"You're next…" the man said darkly, as he shifted his eyes towards Syaoran.

Syaoran… He heard a faint voice and the world that surrounded the young boy began to fade. The last images of that man with his cold, glaring eyes disappeared into darkness. Syaoran, wake up… 

'Sakura?'

Mr Syaoran, please wake up… '…?' 'Why did you call me 'Mister'?' 

------------------------------------

The ancient city of Shenhua

Opening his eyes, he saw a young woman standing next to his bed looking over him. Syaorans eyes widened in surprise.

"WHOA! WHO THE…!WHAT THE…!" Syaoran rolled out the other side of the bed, both very shocked and very confused.

"Are you all right, Mr Syaoran?" The woman asked in concern "It seems you were having some sought of bad dream"

"Who are you?" Syaoran asked while he frantically looked around the room. It was very large, with dark green carpets and darker green walls. Chinese style wall scrolls hung in place next to the large bed which he slept in.

"And Where am I?" Syaoran stood confused, while the woman lightly smiled.

"This is Shenhua, Mr Syaoran. You and your friends arrived here yesterday, which reminds me. Mr Stranger, Miss Raine, Mr Hiirigizawa and Lady Chen have already left for the meeting. They shall return later today"

"Shenhua, meeting…?" Syaoran began to think, until he suddenly remembered. He was travelling through different worlds with Sakura and two odd people, and at this moment he was in a city somewhere in the desert.

"Oh…" he was feeling slightly embarrassed because he forgot, and for the way he acted just now.

"Mr Syaoran, I was asked to awaken you as it is already thirty minutes past the hour of eleven. There are some clothes you could wear in the wardrobe, seeing as the outfit that you have may not be a suitable choice during these times" The woman then drew open the curtains allowing the bright sunlight to completely fill the room.

"You should head downstairs for something to eat. See you downstairs, Mr Syaoran" She left through the door while Syaoran stared out of the window, viewing the city.

'Eleven-thirty? I never sleep that late' Syaoran thought to himself, before deciding to get dressed.

He pulled a bundle of clothes out of the wardrobe and placed them onto his bed. He noticed that they were very similar to what the ancient Chinese wore. It didn't take him long to decide which one to wear, he immediately picked up a dark green suit with black trousers, complete with a grey wolf design on the front.

Syaoran thought for a moment. 'That dream, the memory of that night eleven years ago. That man my father fought with, could it really be him who…no. That can't be possible'

Clearing the thought out of his head he finished changing, left his room and headed down stairs. The hallways were very big, but luckily they happened to resemble those back at his house so it wasn't that hard to find his way around. After much walking, he found himself in a large seating room where the rest of the group waited. Sakura sat on a red sofa wearing something similar to Syaoran, except pink in colour with white trousers. Next to her was Tomoyo, who was complementing her dress, Meilin sat in an armchair across from Yukito and Nakuru while Kero and Spinel sat on a small table.

"Syaoran, you're awake!" Sakura immediately noticed his presence when he entered the room. 

"Good morning, Sakura" Syaoran smiled, and sat down on the sofa next to her. "Good morning everyone"

"Syaoran, you're up later than usual" Meilin said in surprise as she looked at her watch "and you look dark around the eyes"

"Yeah, well. I just had a bad dream"

"A bad dream? What was it about?" Sakura asked him both curiously and worriedly

"Nothing, really. I can't even remember half of it" Syaoran lied, hoping he wouldn't worry anyone too much. Fortunately everyone believed him.

"Hey Syaoran, that outfit you're wearing…it looks very good on you" Sakura shyly smiled, gazing at the wolf design on his shirt

"R-really? You think so?" Syaoran blushed slightly and Sakura nodded furiously

"Sakura-chan is right Li-kun, That outfit looks very nice. In fact…" Tomoyo quickly whipped out the video camera "When you both sit together in those costumes it looks super Kawaii!"

Just then a young girl, aged around 12, entered the room. She had long dark hair with blue eyes, and wore a light blue dress.

"So he is finally awake then" She looked at Syaoran, who returned a confused look

"Oh! This is…" Sakura went to introduce the young girl to Syaoran, but was cut off

"Maggie Chen, I'm the Regents daughter. It is nice to meet you Wolfie" the young girl bowed

Whilst most people in the room giggled, Syaoran raised his eyebrow

"No, my name is Syaoran, not Wolfie"

"Really? Mr Stranger told me it was 'Wolfie'" the young girl looked away in confusion

"What is that guys problem…?" Syaoran groaned and shook his head

"Would you like something to eat?"

"No thanks. I'm not all that hungry"

"You probably wouldn't get much anyway seeing as Kero had eaten half of what's in the kitchen" Sakura whispered in Syaorans ear, who then chuckled

"By the way, what are those?" Maggie pointed to the small creatures sitting on the table

"Stuffed animals" Meilin simply replied

While Spinel ignored the comment, Kero flew into the air and yelled

"Hey, I'm not a stuffed animal! I am Keroberos, guardian beast of the Clow cards"

"Wow, that's really amazing!" the young girl smiled

Kero, now puffing up his chest with pride, floated towards Meilin

"You hear that, brat? Somebody thinks I'M amazing!"

"So that makes two of you…" Meilin grinned

---------------------------------------

Green Market Quarter

While waiting for the others to return from the meeting, Maggie decided to take them out to the Green Market Quarter to look around the stalls. Being market day, it was expectantly busy. Hundreds of people crowded the area, buying all sorts of strange things.

"Everyone be careful, you don't want to get lost!" the young girl called back as she led them through a large crowd towards the main centre

"They certainly have lots of interesting things for sale here" Sakura noted, "What currency do they use here?"

"Here we use Imperial Silver. If you want anything, I can buy them for you!"

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Of course! If you're the ones who's going to help my father then I'll buy you whatever you want"

That last statement made everyone stop and think

'What did she mean by that?'

"Hey, come on! Over here!" The girl waved her hand in the air as she ran towards a stall outside a large restaurant.

"Lady Maggie, it's nice to see you this fine morning" The woman who ran the stall greeted the girl, then she noticed the group following her "Oh, are these friends of yours?"

"Yep. They're from out of town" she smiled back

"O-out of town? Are they the…uh…" the woman seemed to be getting nervous

"There is no need to worry, they're all nice people!" the young girl reassured her.

"Hey Sakura! Can I try something from in there?" Kero pointed inside the restaurant

"Kero, we've just had breakfast"

"Yeah, but I'm STILL hungry" Kero dropped his head

"Oh, would you look at all of these!" Tomoyo began to admire a stall which sells various clothes and costumes "Sakura-chan you would look so adorable wearing this!"

Tomoyo picked up a yellow dress and held it in front of her friend

"Tomoyo-chan…" Sakura sighed

Meanwhile Syaoran, Yukito and Nakuru where looking at a stall selling sculptures and ornaments

"You're outsiders, eh? Why don't you take a look at some of my wares, see if you like anything" The street vendor smiled as he waved his hands over the items on his stall

"You're very cheerful. Most people here seem to be afraid of us" Syaoran looked at the man suspiciously

"Well my good sir, I don't care where anyone comes from as long as they've got money" the man said with a strange glint in his eye

"Well, these are quite interesting" Yukito said as he picked up a small wooden horse "Maybe I could by something for Touya"

"That's a great idea!" Nakuru said "I'm gonna buy LOTS of presents!" with that, she started grabbing random items off the stall

Syaoran began to view the items Nakuru hadn't snatched. One item particularly caught his eye

"How much is this?" Syaoran asked as he picked up necklace with a small wooden bear hanging from it

"Ah excellent choice. That's a very interesting necklace. The bear is hand carved from wood that belonged to a tree which is now long gone. Nearly 600 years it's been, I believe. You'll notice the small engraving on the bears' chest which reads 'Love for Eternity'. I take it you'll be giving it to a very special lady eh?" The man gave a very wide grin as Syaoran blushed and quickly glanced in Sakura's direction

"Ah! Found you at last" A loud voice called over

Everyone turned to see Captain Terada marching towards them. He stopped in front of Maggie, and saluted.

"Your mother has finished with the meeting. It would be best that you return home immediately"

A/n I should've had this up earlier, but it's been a real mad week. A dog attacked my sister; my cat nearly got shut in a fridge freezer and after celebrating my older brothers 21st birthday I had too much to drink (I woke up the next day stuck in a tree somewhere in central London dressed as a raccoon) the next chapter I'll try to get up faster


	8. Night

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura

Chapter 7

Rescue the Regent

------------------------------

Regents Estate

The group had been led back to the Regents house and are standing in the main hall. They had been told to wait there for a few minutes, and Maggie Chen had left to see her mother who was at the city hall. It took a while before anyone noticed the large bags Tomoyo was carrying with her, ones that she didn't have before

"What have you got in all those bags, Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked her friend curiously

"Oh, just some materials" Tomoyo smiled as she patted the bag

Syaoran eyed the bags suspiciously

"Materials? What materials and for what purpose?"

"Clothing materials, of course! I'll be using these to create some more costumes for Sakura-chan. After walking around this city I have already thought up some really wonderful designs" Tomoyo burst out laughing

Before anyone could comment on how crazy she was, one of the servants arrived and spoke to the group

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. Please follow me"

They were led back to the room they sat in earlier. It was now occupied by Eriol, Stranger and Raine who were discussing something. Raine immediately took notice of the group entering the room.

"Good afternoon, everyone. Please have a seat"

As everyone sat down on the chairs, Sakura looked towards Raine with a concerned expression

"Are you all right after…"

"Yes, of course Kinomoto-san. And Stranger has already filled me in about all that has happened here"

"I'm glad" Sakura smiled in relief before sitting down between Syaoran and Meilin. Stranger waited for everyone to be seated before he started talking

"Now, we all know we can't enter the Hall, right? Well, the council will let us in if we do something for them"

"What, exactly?" Syaoran asked rather irritatingly, knowing that it'll be something big and possibly dangerous

Raine took a deep breath before explaining

"Three miles west outside of the city is the tomb of the hero Gui Zang, who was one of the Final Heavens. Now according to Mrs Chen, the Regent was sent out along with some soldiers to retrieve an artefact from the within the tomb. The artefact is the staff Gui Zang used"

"Why would they need his weapon?" Meilin asked

"It is said to be one of the most powerful weapons in this world. The council figured they could use it to guard the Hall, seeing as the original guardian of the Great seal and half the Shenhua army wasn't enough to stop those intruders before"

"Even so, stealing from a grave…" Syaoran shook his head in disgust

"The idea was a last resort. Something had to be done" Stranger said, shrugging his shoulders

"So anyway, where is the Regent with this weapon?" Sakura asked

"Three guesses" Eriol said, giving one of his curious smiles

Syaoran stared at Eriol for a second, then lowered his head

"The Regent went into the tomb, but somehow got trapped inside?"

"You got it, Wolfie" Stranger said, looking rather impressed

The room remained silent for a while. Syaoran slowly raised his head back up as he thought

'Maybe that's what Maggie meant before…'

Raine began to search through a bag that sat on the floor next to her. She eventually found a large scroll, which she then unravelled and placed onto the small table in the centre of the room

"This is a map of the tomb. It's just a copy, the Regent has the original"

Everyone gathered around the map as Raine began to point at certain parts

"There were traps set inside the tomb to keep it protected, which the Regent was fully aware of, and these markings show the locations. That means that he should have gotten through without setting any of them off"

"So then it is most likely that there is one trap that wasn't marked here, one which the Regent might have stumbled upon?" Syaoran questioned as he studied the map a bit further

"Yes. One that was probably set off by removing the artefact"

"Hasn't anyone tried to help him out of there?" Sakura asked

"They sent many troops out there to try and force there way inside the tomb, but there is a strong magic barrier blocking any way inside or out. No matter how much power they got together, they couldn't break through" Raine replied as she began to roll the map back up

"So they want us to try?" Syaoran guessed

"That's the plan. We have to get in and rescue him" Raine said, placing the map inside the bag

"If no one has managed to get inside, how do they expect us to?" Syaoran asked, raising an eyebrow

"Well, my cute little descendant" Eriol smiled "We are a rather…unique group. We have powers far greater than any of the people in this world so getting inside may be a possible task for us"

"Okay, but even if we do manage to get in. How long has the Regent been there? How do we know he's still alive?"

"He's only been gone two weeks. The group took plenty of supplies with them so they should be fine" Stranger simply stated, although it wasn't very reassuring

"There is something else, though" Raine spoke up "They are still not to keen on trusting outsiders; so only five people are allowed to go. The rest will have to wait here"

"Only five?" Meilin said in disbelief, while Raine nodded slowly

"Yes, we already took the time to decide the group. Li-san will obviously be going, we need three people with very strong magic so that's Kinomoto-san, Hiirigizawa-san and I. Stranger will be going along as support"

While everyone just nodded in understanding, there was a sudden scream from Tomoyos direction

"Wait!" the girl suddenly cried out "Someone needs to be there to record Sakura-chan wearing the costume I'm going to design for her!"

Almost everyone looked to Tomoyo worriedly. She was really crazy when it came to things like that. Stranger actually found this quite funny

"Alright then" he said with an unusual grin on his face "Daidouji, you can go instead of me"

"Really?" Tomoyos face really brightened up

"Well, as long as no one else has any objections to it" before anyone could answer (namely Sakura and Syaoran) he carried on speaking "Good, It's settled. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go sought out your supplies"

Stranger stood up and left the room, taking Raines bag with him.

"This is so wonderful!" Tomoyo laughed hysterically, Sakura smiled nervously and Syaoran dropped his head into his hands

'God, trapped inside dark tomb with both Hiirigizawa AND Daidouji…"

"When are you guys going then?" Nakuru asked, and Eriol answered

"We'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning, just before the sun rises. That way it'll be easier to cross the desert"

-----------------------------

Later that night

It was a full moon and the night sky was clear of any clouds. The temperature was warm, with a light cool breeze travelling through the air. Syaoran sat on the window ledge in his room with the large glass windows open, reading his fathers notebook.

"Lower the stance keeping your back straight…shift left foot forward while pushing the left hand out…" He read the notes aloud and looked at the small sketches drawn showing the move being performed

"Pull back right fist…then higher stance quickly shifting the right foot so it's level with the left… and strike with right hand"

Placing the notebook down, he got up and moved to the centre of the room. He stood in a two-character stance (his feet together and hands down by his waist), before he began to slowly perform the first actions of the move

'Lower stance…back straight…'

He quickened the pace as he reached the next part

'Push out, higher stance and strike"

In one swift movement, he moved up and struck the air. Upon completion of the move, he noticed how the room and its contents began to slightly tremble. The power of the attack caused this; those who weren't even struck by it could feel the force.

'It's pretty late; maybe it wasn't a good idea to practice that attack. I hope I didn't wake anyone'

After a few minutes, he heard a light knock at the door. Whoops. Perhaps it's someone to complain about the noise, someone coming to tell him to stop training and get to bed…

"Come in" he answered, waiting to see whom it was

The door slowly opened, and a young auburn haired girl peeked inside

"Syaoran?"

"Sakura?" He quickly moved to the door and opened it wider, allowing her to step inside, then he quickly closed it "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, everything's fine" Sakura gave a reassuring smile, and glanced around his room "Where you in the middle of something?"

"I was doing some training. I didn't wake you, did I?" Syaoran was ready to kick himself in case he had woken her, but she slowly shook her head.

"No, of course you didn't. Its just Meilin-chan asked me to give you this, seeing as she forgot to earlier"

Sakura placed something into Syaorans hands. He looked at it in disbelief. It was his Sakura bear.

"How long has she had this?" Syaoran asked, quite shocked

"Meilin-chan said she brought it with her after you ran from home. She thought you would have wanted to take it with you"

She watched as a smile crossed his face, then blushed when he looked back into her eyes

"Of course I wanted this with me"

His eyes wandered to see that she was carrying her Syaoran bear in her left hand. That made his smile grow wider, and made her blush even further. Just then, he suddenly remembered something.

"I have something for you" He took her hand and brought her to the window. A small package lay on the side, which he picked up and handed to her.

"Here. I bought it from the market this morning"

Sakura looked at the package for a few seconds before deciding to open it. After carefully unwrapping the package, she found the small bear necklace inside.

"Syaoran…"

Syaoran was so happy to see her smile. Noticing that she was trying to make sense of the engraving, he smiled and whispered to her

"It reads 'Love for Eternity'"

Sakura immediately flung her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely

"Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome" he smiled again before slightly pulling away

"I love you, Syaoran"

"I love you, too" Syaoran replied, placing a light kiss on her cheek.

They sat down together on the window ledge, Syaoran with his back to the frame and Sakura resting her head on his chest. They looked out over the city that was illuminated by the light reflecting from the moon.

"It's a beautiful night" Sakura sighed dreamily

"Yeah…" Syaoran agreed as he looked out towards the desert. For a while they sat in silence, admiring the ancient city that slept peacefully.

'I just hope that tomorrow will be a simple rescue mission' he thought silently to himself, before looking back down to Sakura. His eyes widened in surprise.

She had fallen asleep.

"Sweet dreams…" he whispered into Sakuras ear, and her lips formed into a light smile

------------------

Elsewhere

A ninja bowed before his master, as he relayed a message

"We have found out the location of the Li clan heir. He is inside the city of Shenhua, staying at Regent Chens estate"

Jigoku sat on his throne still half asleep as he listened. He lightly scratched his chin before asking

"Have they gained access to the seal?"

"Not yet. We have picked up some information that the Regent has been trapped inside a tomb, and it's possible that the clan heir will try to save him"

It took a while before the old man responded. He leant back into his chair

"Wait for the clan heir to get inside, then make that tomb his"

The ninja nodded his head in understanding

"Yes, my lord"

A/n I found my old Sega Dreamcast so I've been playing Shenmue all week (I love that game). Also, I'll now be dedicating this story to my grandmother who passed away on the 26th of February. She was a great person who always put others before herself, and she was so tough she could've fought and won an entirewar in a few days if you you gave her a machine gun and some hand grenades


	9. Regent

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura

Chapter 8

Tomb of an ancient hero

--------------------------------

Shenhua cities' Lion Gates, early morning

It was 6.00am and the sun was slowly rising over the sleeping city, bringing light to the streets that were empty minus the guards who patrolled them. At the very edge of the city just behind the Regents estate lies the entrance to Shenhua, the Lions' Gate, where the group are preparing to leave for Gui Zangs tomb.

"That's a very nice dress you're wearing Miss Sakura. It certainly looks different to what Miss Tomoyo usually makes for you" Eriol complimented Sakura in her costume.

It was a light pink Chinese-looking dress with short sleeves and a white under shirt. The long skirt went down to just below her knees revealing the light grey baggy trousers she wore underneath, and it was all completed with the silhouette of a cherry tree and it's falling blossoms.

"Thanks. It seems to be the only _normal_ looking outfit that Tomoyo-chans made for me" Sakura blushed noticeably when she saw that Syaoran was staring at her with his jaw hanging

"I created the dress in a way to match Li-kuns' adorable wolf suit!" Tomoyo giggled

"And…what is that?" Eriol asked slyly when he saw the bear necklace Sakura wore along her star key.

"It was a…uh…gift…from Syaoran…" Sakura whispered slightly embarrassed, as both their faces reddened quickly

"Really? Could that have been what was in that parcel Li-kun gave you last night?" Tomoyo wondered aloud, making the pair suddenly look to her with half confused half shocked expressions

"W-what?" Syaoran choked out, looking at the devious smile Eriol and Tomoyo where sharing

"Where you…did you…?" Syaoran knew they were up to something, but before he could get any further into it Stranger called over to them

"You guy's know how to ride these things, right?" He and Raine walked over to them leading five horses by their reigns.

Deciding to throttle answers out of the two later, Syaoran answered Stranger

"We should be able to manage…" Syaoran looked nervously up at the horse Stranger left in front of him.

The others, except for Raine and Eriol, shared Syaorans nervousness. They hadn't really ridden them before. Raine quickly took the time to explain the basics of horse riding to them, while Stranger helped them onto the saddles.

"I'll go get these gates open so you can be on your way" Stranger went to speak with the gate guard, but was stopped by Raine

"You know you won't be able to communicate with anyone while I'm gone. I'll be three miles away, so…"

"Alright don't worry, I'll explain it to everyone else as soon as you leave. By the way, when you see the Regent give him this. He loves this stuff"

Stranger reached to the back of his belt and removed his hip flask. He then handed it to Raine, who smiled and nodded in understanding.

"Just make sure he doesn't have too much. You remember what happened last time…" he finished with a grin

-----------------------------

Gui Zangs tomb, three miles west of Shenhua

The weather was only slightly warm out due to it being so early in the morning and it hadn't taken longer than seventy minutes for them to cross the desert and reach the tombs' location (they would've been quicker, but Syaoran kept falling of his horse). They stared at the structure in amazement; it was a pyramid style structure that was half in ruins, yet the sheer size of it was impressive.

"This is it…" Raine said

The group dismounted their horses and tied them up in a shaded spot near a half collapsed stonewall. They proceeded closer until Syaoran stopped and noticed something

"The magic is very strong here"

The others stood around, also feeling the strength of the magic. Syaoran took a few more steps forward, until…

"Whoa!"

He was shot backwards forcefully by an invisible wall and collapsed into the sand

"Syaoran! Are you okay?" Sakura quickly rushed to his side and helped him up

"Yeah, but…what the hell?" He looked to the spot from where he was knocked back

"That must be the barrier. We should hurry up and break it" Raine said to the confused Syaoran

"How?" He asked, sounding pretty pissed off

"We'll need to use our strongest attacks to get through this" Raine replied before turning to Eriol and Sakura "By casting our spells all at once, that should be enough to bring it down"

"Alright" Sakura and Eriol nodded as they released their wands

"Do you want me to help?" Syaoran asked

"Don't worry. The three of us should be enough to take care of it" Raine said, indicating that Syaoran and Tomoyo should step back.

The three magicians stood in a line beside yet a good few metres away from each other, and began to chant their spells. Sakura pulled out her FIREY card, Eriol was charging a large red beam and Raine was summoning some sought of purple light. After a few seconds the three sent a huge blast of fire, red beams and a purple light straight towards the invisible barrier causing a huge multicoloured explosion and causing the ground to violently shake. Not long afterwards, the invisible wall flashed a blue colour before shattering like glass and making an entrance for the group.

"That was really amazing!" Tomoyo cheered as the mages finished their spells

"The barrier has been destroyed so lets hurry up and find this Regent" Syaoran said, looking towards the tombs' entrance.

"You don't waste much time do you, my dear little descendant" Eriol chuckled lightly as he and Sakura converted their wands back into keys.

"Shut it, Hiirigizawa" Syaoran growled back

Walking up to the entrance and standing just outside, they all peered in through the doorway. It looked dark, and maybe even a little bit scary…

"Uh…T-there w-wouldn't be a-a-any…" Sakura began to shiver slightly, despite it being a warm day

Syaoran, noticing this and understanding she was afraid that there might be ghosts (It was a tomb, after all), placed his left arm protectively around her

"Stay by my side and you'll be okay" He whispered into her ear and, knowing that she really would be okay with Syaoran by her side, she sure enough began to feel less frightened

"Thank you" She smiled gratefully and hugged his body

"What's wrong with Kinomoto-san?" Raine asked Tomoyo, who was chuckling at the wonderful footage she had just captured on her camcorder

"Sakura-chan has a very strong fear of ghosts" Tomoyo said as she walked along beside Eriol towards Sakura and Syaoran

'Then she's not going to like my home world…' She thought worriedly to herself, before following the others inside

---------------------------

Inside the tomb

It was dark inside the tomb, with only a tiny bit of light bringing it away from being pitch black. The group moved in, noticing that it was very cold compared to the outside.

"I can't see a thing" Syaoran complained as he scraped the wall

"I could use the LIGHT card" Sakura suggested, but Raine turned to her and shook her head

"No need. Mrs Chen gave me this" She smiled as she lifted up a crystal pendant shaped like a tear, which suddenly emitted a bright blue light. They could now see perfectly down the dark hallway.

"Handy" Tomoyo stared at the pendant in amazement while keeping her camera fixed on Sakura and Syaoran.

Raine handed the pendant to Eriol who was holding the map of the tomb in his left hand. He held the pendant up so he could begin reading it, while the others huddled round him

"Well, now that we can see where we are going, we should be heading…" he lifted his finger to point in the direction "Down that corridor. But be careful, a trap has been set up there"

"How is it activated?" Sakura asked

"Ah…it doesn't say. This map only shows us where the traps are" Eriol stated, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Then we'll just have to watch our step" Syaoran grunted in annoyance and folded his arms.

They began to walk down the corridor Eriol pointed out, very slowly. Raine  
walked in front of the group waving the pendant around, scanning the whole area for anything that looked like an activation lever for a trap. They made it halfway down the corridor before Eriol suddenly stopped.

"Eriol-kun, is everything all right?" Tomoyo asked in concern when she noticed the sudden change in his expression

"I seem to be standing on something…" Eriol looked down and his eyes widened in horror. He was standing on some sought of switch.

Everyone stood completely still, looking at Eriols' worried expression. It had been a few seconds and nothing had happened. Syaoran then looked to Eriol, and spoke quietly

"Try not to move" Syaoran held his right hand out to Eriol and waved his left to the others, signalling them to back away slightly.

"The thought had occurred to my cute little descendant" Eriol gave a shaky grin, trying his best to keep calm.

Syaoran slowly edged forward, reaching out his right had towards Eriols' foot. The other three stood back and watched in worry as Syaoran attempted to help him, but Raine suddenly noticed something about the ceiling. It was cracking fast.

"Move!"

Raine ran forward, knocking Syaoran back and shoving Eriol away as the ceiling caved in, a ton of sand and stone quickly filling the hall.

"Eriol-kun! Raine-chan!" Sakura ran forward to try and help them, but Syaoran quickly shot up off the floor and pulled her back to avoid any of the ceiling from crushing her.

It took a few moments for the ceiling to cease falling. Syaoran, Sakura and Tomoyo stood in shock from the sudden event while hoping the other two were not hurt. They were in complete silence until they heard Eriols' muffled voice from behind the rubble.

"W-we're all right"

The three sighed in relief that they were okay.

"Hiirigizawa, have you got the map? Can you find you're way to us?" Syaoran called out, swinging his arms to clear away the dust that filled the air. Raines voice was the one that answered him

"Yes, we have the map. And Li-san, you're near Gui Zangs burial chamber. If you head down the hall and turn left, you'll find the entrance halfway down that corridor. There are no traps more traps on the way, so we'll meet you there"

"Okay, we'll see you there. Be careful" He replied, turning towards Sakura and Tomoyo who both nodded in understanding

They all walked together slowly, hugging the wall hoping it would lead them to their destination. Eriol and Raine had the glowing pendant, so it was difficult to move through the dim halls.

"Sakura-chan, I can hear something behind this wall" Tomoyo said, tugging on Sakuras shoulder.

Sakura stepped beside her friend and pressed her right ear against the wall. It was cold, dusty and…

"I hear it too" She said, her eyes widening as she backed away

"There's a door here" Syaoran pointed to a section of the wall, where a small gap ran down it.

"Keep back" he warned the two before stepping in front and placing his hands onto the centre of the stone door. Forcefully pushing it open, it revealed a room completely shrouded in darkness.

Syaoran placed his hand on his swords' hilt and Sakura released her Star key.

"There's something moving in there!" Tomoyo whispered as she caught something on the screen of her camera

Sakura froze up at the thought that it might be a ghost, while Syaoran quickly shifted inside the room with his sword drawn. He took a quick glance around, and saw nothing. Turning his head back to Sakura, and motioned that it was okay to enter. Sakura grudgingly moved inside with her wand raised followed by Tomoyo

Syaoran suddenly saw movement from the corner of his left eye, and immediately sprung into action. He charged and tackled whatever it was to the ground, pinning it down with one hand and laying one of his sword's sharp edges across it

"Wait!" a deep voice cried in horror, surprising Syaoran greatly

A dim light crossed over him so he could now see that he was pinning down a man in silver armour. It was a Royal guard from Shenhua.

"Get off him now!" Syaoran looked up to see five other royal guards standing across from him, one of which was holding a glowing pendant similar to what Raine received from Mrs Chen.

"Syaoran, I think it's them!" Sakura lowered her wand and looked at the men in shock. They all looked like they where in a horrible state.

Syaoran slowly sheathed his sword and got up off of the man. He held out his hand and helped him up

"Sorry about that" Syaoran apologised to the man who continued to slightly tremble. He then noticed the guards where standing in front of someone sitting down on the floor.

"Are you… the Regent?" He asked, noticing the man was holding a large weapon. Gui Zangs staff.

"Who are you?" the middle aged man replied. He had a brown hair, a short beard and dark blue eyes.

"I'm Li Syaoran, this is Sakura Kinomoto and Tomoyo Daidouji. We've come to help you"

"You're the descendant of Li Kai ku? That means…you came with Stranger and Lady Raine?" The Regent looked to Syaoran with a questionable look and the sound of hope in his voice

"Stranger is back at the city and Enoeda is with us, although we got separated back in the corridor. She'll be meeting us here" Syaoran slowly replied, and noticed how the Regents' face drooped

"So we'll just have to wait" the Regent sighed, resting the staff beside him.

"How did you get trapped inside here?" Syaoran asked the Regent who looked back to him with tired eyes

"We removed the weapon from its resting place on top of Gui Zangs sarcophagus. I guess it then set off the barrier, trapping us inside. I thought no one would ever get in to help us, or supplies where running out" He weakly smiled before lowering his head

At this moment Tomoyo was busy recording Sakura wearing her dress, but noticed she was looking around for something

"Sakura-chan? What's wrong?" Tomoyo asked, not taking the camera off of her

"I can sense something familiar" She looked into the darkness, trying to think where she had sensed this before. All of a sudden, she felt whatever it was moving very quickly towards her

"JUMP"

Sakura moved just in time to avoid a blade strike, which smashed the ground she stood on. Syaoran became very alert and ran to where Sakura once was, catching a glimpse of the attacker

"Ninjas!" He quickly drew his sword and pulled out one of his ofuda

"GOD OF FIRE, ANSWER MY CALL"

A huge blaze swept across the room, but the ninja reacted quickly and avoided the attack. Before Syaoran could pursue him, another blade flew through the air towards him making him stop in his tracks and duck. It came from the shadows; he barely even saw it coming

"It's the same ones from the park" Sakura called out as she landed back down

"Protect the Regent!" the guards quickly circled around the Regent defensively

It was hard to see. The room was very dark and the ninjas where using this to cover their movements, making it hard to predict the attacks. Syaoran had very narrowly avoided a kunai that flew past his ear

"Dammit I can't see them!" Syaoran frantically scanned the darkened room with his eyes, trying to locate the enemies

Knowing they couldn't fight in the dark, Sakura pulled out the one card that could destroy the enemies' advantage

"LIGHT"

There was a bright flash of light which pushed away the darkness that filled the room, revealing its true size. The room was enormous, maybe twice the size of the school gymnasium, with pillars supporting the ceiling and a large staircase starting from the centre of the room leading up towards what appears to be Gui Zangs sarcophagus. Everyone looked up to see maybe even more than fifty ninjas clinging to stone pillars, the walls and even hanging from the ceiling.

"Looks like they can't hide now" Syaoran smirked as he readied his weapon

The ninjas then began their assault, leaping around the room while throwing kunai and flying in to strike with their swords. Syaoran blocked and dodged a barrage of attacks from multiple angles, occasionally countering and successfully cutting down the enemies. He also threw in some kicks, which helped considerably when they knocked back large groups.

"SWORD"

Sakura released the SWORD card and now used the elegant blade to fight back against the attackers. Thankfully she had been practicing with it recently, so she was quite good at striking and blocking. After countering several attacks from multiple opponents she leapt across the room and landed beside a large stone pillar, but unbeknown to her there was a ninja hiding behind it who saw his chance to sneak around and try to strike the girl.

"Sakura-chan! Look out behind you!" Tomoyo screamed to her friend, and Syaoran also looked over to her after throwing an enemy into the wall

Sakura looked over her shoulder to see a ninja lunging with his blade towards her. Luckily she was quick enough to react to this and spun to the right side allowing the ninja to pass by her, then hooked a fierce kick into the back of the enemies' head sending him forcefully into the ground. Syaoran stood watching in shock, never realising his gentle cherry blossom was capable of such a thing.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" He asked with his eyes open widely as Sakura jumped to land beside him

"I picked it up from you" She gave a light smile before turning to face more enemies.

The Royal guards where trying their best to fend off the oncoming attacks and to protect the Regent, but the ninjas where wearing them down. They couldn't hold out for long, they were barely able to stand let alone fight. Picking up Gui Zangs staff the Regent began to swing it wildly at the enemies, trying to give his men some support.

"Sir, you're not strong enough to fight!" One of the guards tried to hold the Regent back, but he just pushed him away

"Says who? I won't just sit by while my best men are getting killed" He grunted before turning and swinging the staff towards a ninjas head

The ninja the Regent had struck down was halfway through casting a fire spell, and when he fell the blast was sent upwards towards the ceiling. This caused a large stone block to tear out of the ceiling, which began to fall down towards the Regent and his men.

"WATCH OUT!" Syaoran cried

A/n I've decided to try and make my chapters a bit longer, and I did it. Updating may take a bit longer as for some reason I'm entering a paintball tournament with my friends (war, it's fantastic!). I'm also starting another story (It'll only be a few chapters long) where Sakura is involved in a car accident and dies, while Syaoran in a fit of grief travels to a spirit world to fight the king of hell and bring her back to life. But whether it'll be any good or not…nyah.


	10. Seal

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura

Chapter 9

One down, four to go

--------------------------

Gui Zangs' tomb

_The ninja the Regent had struck down was halfway through casting a fire spell, and when he fell the blast was sent upwards towards the ceiling. This caused a large stone block to tear out of the ceiling, which began to fall down towards the Regent and his men. _

"_WATCH OUT!" Syaoran cried_

As Syaoran prepared to run forward, a thick red beam of light cut through the air and struck the stone block, causing it to explode into tiny pieces.

"I see you're in a spot of bother" A familiar voice called in a semi-serious tone

"Eriol-kun! Raine-chan!" Sakura cried in surprise and relief as the two stood by the entrance, Eriol with his sun staff and Raine wielding a shinobigatana (short straight ninja sword)

"I'll help the Regent, you help Li-san and Kinomoto-san"

"Alright. Be careful" Eriol nodded

Before joining Syaoran and Sakura, Eriol sent another blast of red light straight through a crowd of enemies who appeared in front of them, making a space for which Raine could quickly run through and reach the Regent. Weaving and dodging her way through the crowd of enemies, Raine swiftly struck down a few of them before making it to where the guards stood their ground

"Regent Chen, are you all right?" Raine asked as she ran up beside him. It looked like the Regent had taken a few hits, but luckily wasn't seriously injured

"Can't complain. Although nobody listens to me anyway" he smiled jokingly before slamming the staff down onto the top of a ninjas head.

Things were not looking too good for the others, though. Syaoran advised against using really powerful magic techniques seeing as there was a very high risk of the entire tomb collapsing in if they tried them. This restriction along with the amount of enemies and the speed of their movements, the battle was proving to be incredibly difficult

"How many" Syaoran paused while he quickly swirled around to strike an enemy attacking from the left "of these guys are there?"

They were completely surrounded and outnumbered. Whenever one enemy was struck down, many more came afterwards. Sakura, Syaoran and Eriol where standing in a small triangle with their backs to each other while they tried to fight off what seemed to be nearly a hundred ninjas. Tomoyo stood in the centre of the triangle recording whatever she could with her camera, whilst under the protection of the three fighters.

"Dammit, they're getting too close!" Syaoran growled, Sakura quickly turned to him with a proposal

"Syaoran I know you said we shouldn't, but I could use one of my more powerful cards to keep them back" Syaoran looked back to her with a troubled 'it's too dangerous' expression

"I agree with miss Sakura. Besides, things can't get worse than they are now" Eriol stated without taking his gaze away from the enemies ahead of him

"…Alright" Syaoran sighed in agreement

"Stand together everybody and hang on to something!" Sakura pulled out a card and threw it into the air

"STORM"

A humongous tornado erupted from the card, swirling out and upwards around the group. The strong gusts of wind surrounded them protectively and threw back the enemies in multiple directions, all either hitting the walls or the ceiling

"Bloody hell!" the Regent exclaimed in shock as he watched the enormous whirlwind twirl around the room and felt the gusts pushing him backwards slightly

After a minute the fierce winds ceased and STORM returned back into its card form, leaving everyone pretty shaken up and disorientated

"Is everyone okay?" Sakura asked around, receiving 'we're alright' and 'what the hell just happened' looks from everybody

"They're gone" Eriol said aloud, making everyone turn to him questioningly

"What are you…huh?" Syaoran suddenly realised what Eriol was talking about. All of the ninjas, even the bodies, had disappeared from the room "Where'd they go?"

As everyone looked around in curiosity, there was a very low rumbling sound echoing through the room and out of the hallways. The group stood frozen to the spot as a very loud cracking sound surrounded them and small bits of rock began to slowly fall away from the walls and ceiling.

"We need to leave right now!" Raine shouted out

Not even a second later, the rumbling became more violent and larger blocks of stone began to fall from the ceiling. Unfortunately a large pillar collapsed in front of the rooms' entrance, blocking the way out

"Holy crap we're screwed! The place is falling down and the only way out's blocked!" A guard cried out in horror

"Gather around quickly, I'll get us out of here" Raine put away her shinobigatana and held out her hands in front of her face, the right with the middle and index fingers extended while wrapped into the left hand

The group huddled together without hesitation as Raine closed her eyes and began to mumble an incantation. But before joining everyone else Sakura called back her LIGHT card, turning the tomb back in its former state of darkness. In a matter of seconds random Japanese symbols began to appear in puffs of orange smoke, floating and circling the group like fireflies. All of a sudden, a bright sheet of blue light swept up from the ground engulfed them. Everyone cried in surprise at this sudden action, but before long the blue sheet disappeared along with the coldness of the tomb. It was all now replaced with a bright yellowish light and the feeling of warmth, telling everyone that they were now no longer inside, but out in the desert.

"It's okay, we're safe" Raine assured the group as she opened her eyes and lowered her hands. She had used a transportation spell to get them outside.

They had all landed a hundred meters away from the tomb, which could now be seen collapsing and sinking into the ground. They sat on the soft sand in silence, watching as the once impressive structure crumbled away into pieces.

"I think maybe you're too powerful for your own good, Miss Sakura" Eriol said as a light joke, breaking the silence

"I-I'm really sorry about that" Sakura apologised heartily to the Regent, feeling really terrible for destroying the resting place of a legendary hero. Syaoran placed his right arm over her shoulders and hugged her closely in an attempt to try and make her feel better

"Don't worry about it, you had no choice. Besides, this whole mess is my fault anyway" The Regent admitted, his eyes dropping to look at the weapon he held in his hands

"Oh, Stranger asked me to give you this" Raine took out the canteen Stranger gave her and handed it to the Regent. A large smile grew on his face as he opened the top and quickly drank most of its contents, not stopping for air until Raine took it back from him in concern for his health.

"God bless that man" he coughed out, wiping his mouth with his sleeve

Syaoran took one last look over at the collapsing tomb, then turned his head back

"Come on, we should be heading back now. The others might be worried"

--------------------------

The city of Shenhua

It had been six hours since they had left. A huge crowd of no less than thousand people surrounded the Lion gates, eagerly awaiting the return of the travellers along with the Regent. At the very front of the crowd stood the other half of the group, the six members of the Shenhua council, Captain Terada, Mrs Chen and her daughter Maggie.

"Hey, I can see them coming! The Regent is with them!" a man shouted from a rooftop overlooking the desert

"Alright, open the gates" Terada ordered the gate guard who immediately flipped the opening switch

The large doors opened slowly, allowing the group to enter the city. The Regent shared Raines horse; while despite protests from the other members of the group the guards said they were all well enough to walk the way back.

"Roy!" Mrs Chen cried out in happiness as she and Maggie ran towards the Regent with arms stretched out as he dismounted the horse

"Olivia, Maggie…I'm so glad to see you two again" he immediately hugged the both of them as they ran into his arms

Everyone else began to dismount their horses, and where immediately greeted by the council members

"Thank you, thank you so much. You have helped us in so many unimaginable ways! Thank you" They seemed to be incredibly happy and extremely thankful. They kept bowing, smiling and shaking everyone's hands

"You really don't have to thank us" Syaoran said

"That's very modest of you, Wolfie" Stranger grinned as he wandered over towards them and stopped in front of the head council member

"We held up our end of the bargain, now…"

"Certainly, of course" The head turned towards Terada "Captain Terada, please lead them inside the Hall"

"Yes sir" He smiled happily and saluted them

--------------------------------

Hall of Heroes

Captain Terada led Syaoran, Sakura, Tomoyo, Eriol and Raine to a large temple-like building in the very centre of the city. Six guards stood on patrol outside who each saluted their captain before opening the large wooden doors, allowing the group to enter. The inside of the building was very interesting; it wasn't very wide but it was extremely long. Light shone through hundreds of small rounded windows housed on the tall ceiling, illuminating the room and giving view to the large stone statues that were lined up against the walls. Every statue was of different men and women, each in a variety of poses and stances.

"Who are these statues of?" Tomoyo asked Terada, who was leading them through the hallway

"These are some of the greatest men and women in history. They are people who have done many great things for our city and our country, true heroes of the ancient times. Many people come here in memory of these fine warriors" he replied, with both happiness and pride clearly in the tone of his voice

"Some of them are broken…" Sakura noticed as her gaze moved from one statue to another

"It all happened during the attack two months ago. They're in the process of being repaired though, so soon everything will be back to normal" Terada added before turning his back to look at Syaoran and Sakura "You know, it's possible that you guys could end up being remembered here"

"What do you mean?" Syaoran asked curiously

"You're all heroes. You have done our city a great deed by risking your lives to rescue the Regent. In a couple of weeks, there's bound to be statues of you put up here"

"I don't think there's any need for that…" Sakura smiled unsurely while Tomoyo burst into a fit of laughter

"A monument of the wonderful Sakura-chan wearing one of my costumes to be remembered for eternity…it's so exciting!"

They had been walking through the hall for a good couple of minutes before Terada stopped at a larger statue that stood at the very end of the hall. It was a heavily damaged statue of a man wearing Chinese style robes and wielding a large staff, all detailed with finely drawn symbols and insignias. Engraved on a pedestal in front was the name 'Gui Zang'

"Here we are. I'll leave you to it" Terada smiled before he turned around and walked back the way they came, leaving the others to view the sculpture in amazement

"So that is Gui Zang" Eriol grinned, folding his arms across his chest

"Where's the seal?" Sakura asked no one in particular, staring at the statue in awe

"The statue _is_ the seal" Raine pointed out as she stepped closer to it

"So what do I have to do now?" Syaoran asked

"It is very simple. Just place your hands onto the pedestal and let your aura channel through it. Being a descendant of Li Kai Ku, the seal should gain power from you and reactivate"

Syaoran felt unsure at first, but then agreed to it. He stepped forward and placed his hands down on the pedestals' face, and allowed his aura to channel through. The others stood back and watched as the statue began to glow a bright green, the chips and scratches disappearing as it began to rapidly repair itself. It didn't take more than thirty seconds for the statue finish its' repairs, then Syaoran slowly removed his hands from the pedestal and stepped away. The first seal had been restored.

"Amazing!" Sakura exclaimed as the once semi destroyed statue was now back to it's former glory, with the detailed symbols and insignias glowing a light blue colour

As Syaoran gazed upon the seal he just restored, he began to feel a little light-headed and dizzy

"…?" He slightly stumbled as his head began to ache

"Syaoran!" Sakura immediately rushed to his side

"Something…my head…" he mumbled, before snapping his eyes shut

A voice of man echoed through his aching mind

'Thank you…you have restored my seal and my powers…many dangers and greater foes await you ahead of your journey…train hard and grow stronger, descendant of Kai Ku…thank you, once again…'

As the echoing voice and the headache disappeared, Syaorans eyes flung back open to meet a pair of worried emerald eyes.

"Syaoran, are you okay? What happened?" Sakura held her hands firmly but gently to the sides of Syaorans head

"It was…I was…N-nothing, It's all right" he sighed, straightening his posture and taking Sakuras hands into his own away from his head

"Are you sure? It didn't look like it was nothing" Eriol said with suspicious eyes

"It was nothing, really. Come on, let's just get out of here" Syaoran turned away and walked off, leaving the others to follow behind with confused and worried expressions.

After leaving the hall they were greeted outside by Meilin, Yukito, Nakuru, Stranger, Spinel, Kero and the Chens'. They were extremely happy to see them all safe after their journey out into the desert

"It's good to see that you guy's are alright…oh, what's this?" Meilin asked as she lightly took hold of the small necklace Sakura was wearing

"Syaoran gave it to me" Sakura responded shyly

"That reminds me" Syaoran turned to Tomoyo and Eriol with an accusing glare "Earlier, you said something…"

He paused as Tomoyo giggled and pulled out a small videotape from her pocket, inserting it into her camcorder. She held up the camera screen in full view of everyone and pressed the play button.

The camera was scanning the outside of a large house, illuminated by the silver moonlight. There were hundreds of windows on the side of the building, but it seemed the camera was looking for just one

"_Which room did you say it was?" Tomoyos' voice whispered from behind the camera_

"_That room, it has to be…look I was right! Up there!" This time it was Meilins' voice, and the camera aimed up to an open window of a room which Sakura and Syaoran were standing in_

"Tomoyo-chan, Meilin-chan…you didn't…" Sakura whispered to her friends, her voice getting quieter. After receiving no answer other than large grins from the both of them, Sakura continued to watch the footage silently along with Syaoran whose eyes were wider than saucers

"_She's already given Li-kun his bear back" Tomoyo noted_

_The camera slightly zoomed in on the two as they conversed, unaware of those outside recording them. After a few seconds of talking, Syaoran handed Sakura a small package _

"_What's in the package?" Meilins voice came from the side, while the camera stayed fixed on the couple_

"We're bound find out what it is tomorrow" The clear sound of Eriols' voice was then present on the tape 

Syaoran immediately glared at Eriol, who was grinning slyly back at him

The recording carried on in silence up until the point where Sakura had fallen asleep on Syaoran, which then resulted in quiet chuckling session from the three spies 

"_Would you look at that!" Tomoyo giggled ecstatically at the moment she had victoriously caught onto camera _

"That is SO adorable!" Nakuru squealed in delight as she hugged a bright red Sakura tightly

_A final note from Eriol was at the end of the tape_

"I really do wonder what my cute little descendant will do when he finds out about this"

"How about I show you then, you bastard!" Syaoran exploded and began to chase Eriol through the streets, who was chuckling and throwing back comments about how cute Syaoran looked and that he was going to make hundreds of copies to send out to his friends, family and just about anyone else who was interested in viewing them

"I must say…the descendant of Kai ku is quite an interesting fellow" The Regent smiled to his wife and daughter, who both agreed with him as they watched Sakura, Yukito, Meilin and Stranger try to hold back Syaoran in order to prevent him from brutally murdering a laughing Eriol.

----------------------

Elsewhere

Jigoku sat half asleep on his throne, listening to a mission report from a ninja who knelt before him. The report was not a good one, as it was filled with news of failure. Failure to kill the Li clan heir, Li Syaoran.

"There wouldn't be any trouble like this if Ginryu done his job properly" he growled tiredly "For now, take your men and assist the efforts at Dobuita. I want the Tamashii clan destroyed" the tone in his voice indicated annoyance

"Ah…yes my Lord. Oh…" The ninja suddenly remembered some information he had learnt just before his report, hoping that it would enough to redeem him for his failure "We've heard that another group of travellers are heading towards Kowloon, two of which bear a resemblance to the Li clan heir and the card mistress. They are apparently collecting items like the one which was discovered inside the Monastery"

The ninja then stood quietly, watching his master lower his head slightly as if in deep thought. It took a few moments before he received a reply

"Really?" The old man raised his head and looked back to the ninja with a slight grin replacing his former expression of annoyance "That is interesting…"

A/n You can probably guess which group of people is going to appear in the next world. I have made a start on the next chapter and hopefully it'll be up quicker than this one was (it was a crazy week. My team came 2nd place in the paintball tourney and I've been practicing hard for my karate-grading exam)


End file.
